Photography, early 19th century

Although photography as we know it today had its roots in the early 19^th century, people have used cameras since the Renaissance. The camera obscura was used to project images onto paper, which allowed them to be traced. No one was able to secure a fixed image, however, until the 1820s, when Joseph Nicéphore Niépce performed the first photomechanical process. He reproduced an engraving using bitumen dissolved in lavender oil, which, when exposed to light, becomes insoluble. He also took the first semi-permanent photograph in 1827 using a process he called heliography. Niépce eventually teamed up with Louis Daguerre, who modified and improved Niépce’s technique. Daguerre became known for developing the daguerreotype, the first widely used photographic process.

http://www.concordlibrary.org/scollect/Portrait_Exhibit/notes.html - Raecelynn Besa