It may surprise many people to learn that the first object
that can reliably be called a photograph was created as long ago as 1826. It
shows, in a very grainy image, a view from a window in which it is possible to
make out a tree and other buildings (see above). It was the creation of Joseph Nicéphore
Niépce, who can with some justification be described as the father of
photography.
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was born in 1765 into a well-to-do
family in eastern France. His father was a wealthy lawyer who was able to buy a
large estate, the income from which allowed his sons to spend their time in
scientific research. The family wealth caused problems when the French
Revolution broke out in 1789 and wisdom dictated that the family abandon their
estate. However, they were able to return to it in the post-Revolutionary
period.
Joseph and his older brother Claude were interested in two
main projects, one of them being to develop an early version of the internal
combustion engine, which was patented in 1807. This became Claude’s main
priority, although he later went mad and died after spending far too much money
on trying to develop it.
The photography problem
The other project was photography, with the aim being to
produce a permanent image. The principle of projecting an image on to a glass
screen had long been known, with the “camera obscura” having been used by
artists such as Johannes Vermeer to transfer an image to a screen that could
then be traced over to form the basis of a painting. The invention of the
camera obscura has been credited to Leonardo da Vinci.
Experiments to capture such images were made by Thomas
Wedgwood and Humphrey Davy, who presented a joint paper in 1802 that explained
how they used silver nitrate to produce images on glass plates, but these faded
rapidly when exposed to light. The challenge was to find a way of not only
developing images but fixing them as well.
Niépce solved this problem by coating a polished pewter
plate with a bitumen-like substance. This was able to fix the image. The famous
1826 image was made using a pinhole (i.e. lens-less) camera and allowing an
exposure time of eight hours.
Further progress made by Daguerre
Having made the breakthrough, one might have expected Niépce
to go to town on publicising it. However, he was unwilling to do this, which
would have meant disclosing all the details of his invention, until he could
guarantee his financial returns. Although he was invited to present his work to
the Royal Society in London, this restriction meant that the Society was unable
to validate it.
Instead, Niépce began work with Louis-Jacques Daguerre on
making improvements to the design, and also on developing improvements to
cameras. Unfortunately he was unable to see their joint efforts bear fruit because
he died in 1833 at the age of 68, leaving Daguerre, who was 22 years younger,
to carry on alone.
It was therefore Daguerre who got full credit for a process
that used copper plates coated with silver and which needed exposure times of
minutes rather than hours. The “daguerreotype” process was announced in 1839,
and this is generally regarded as the first truly practical photographic
process, although it was fated to be superseded in its turn within twenty
years.
The role of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was therefore that of
pioneer. He laid the foundations for practical photography, but it would be
left to others to provide the superstructure.
© John Welford
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