The invention of photography wasn't a single moment, but rather a convergence of chemistry, optics, and fantastic ingenuity that culminated in the 1830s.
As someone who experiments with salt printing – one of the techniques used in photography's earliest days – I find myself drawn to understanding these origins.
Long before photography, the camera obscura demonstrated that light could project images. Known since ancient times and refined during the Renaissance, this optical device could project an inverted image through a small aperture onto a surface. Artists used portable versions to trace scenes, but these images couldn't be retained – until chemistry entered the picture.
The race to fix light permanently onto a substrate involved several pioneers.
In 1826 or 1827, French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765–1833) created what's considered the first permanent photograph, "View from the Window at Le Gras," using bitumen of Judea on pewter, requiring an eight-hour exposure. His partnership with Louis Daguerre would prove pivotal.
Meanwhile, in England, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) was conducting his own experiments at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire. I've visited this beautiful estate myself, standing where Talbot created his first successful negative in August 1835 – a small latticed window that still exists today. Using paper coated with silver chloride, Talbot invented what he called "photogenic drawing," later refined into the calotype process.
The year 1839 sparked controversy when both Daguerre and Talbot announced their discoveries publicly within weeks of each other. Daguerre's daguerreotype, announced in Paris on January 7, produced sharp positive images on silver-plated copper. Talbot presented his paper negative process to the Royal Society in England on January 31.
While Daguerre's method initially gained more popularity, Talbot's negative-positive process became the foundation for modern photography, allowing multiple prints from a single negative.
Today, you can explore these pioneering works online through excellent digital collections.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art houses stunning daguerreotypes, while the National Media Museum in Bradford showcases some of Talbot's original imagery. The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas holds the Niépce heliograph, viewable in their digital archives.
The Victoria & Albert Museum (https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photographs), the National Gallery of Victoria (https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/photography/), and the Art Gallery of New South Wales (https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/photography/) all have excellent early photography collections, including daguerreotypes and salt prints.
Working with salt printing today, coating paper with silver nitrate just as Talbot did, I'm reminded that photography's invention was as much about perseverance as incredible innovation – and creating a way for us all to transform fleeting light into lasting memory.