Incredible #FIRST photographs of all times(Series) – Part 1.
⌛ Reading time: 8 minutes
Photography...what can we say! It has been a medium of limitless possibilities since it was originally invented back in early days of 1800´s. From the very first photo captured via a process known as heliography by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 to actual digital photography, the use of cameras has allowed us to capture important historical moments, share with others, on the distance, daily aspects of our common lifes and even remember those beautiful moments we had at some point in our lives. Photography has allowed us to reshape the way we see ourselves and the world around us.
As to remember is to live again, i want to dedicate this series of articles to those very first photographs af all times, those photos taken for the very first time of people, cities, historical places, natural phenomena....from the first photos ever taken using a given process to the first weirdest photos ever taken in the whole world....
and all sprinkled with a little history to surprise you even more!!! :o
Come and join us in this amazing journey for the history of photography which is, in the end, the story of ourselves. :)
❶The first photo ever taken...of all!!!
Fig 1. This photo was taken from the upstair’s windows of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce's estate in the Burgundy region of France - 1826/1827 *– (https://en.wikipedia.org)*
What a better photo to start our journey than the very first photograph ever taken (at least is considered as the world's earliest surviving photograph). This photo was captured using a type of photography known as heliography. This is when a piece of metal or glass is coated with Bitumen of Judea. When the light hit the Bitumen, it would harden in proportion to the amount of light that hit it, creating the image. In the case of this photo, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce allowed it to remain exposed for an astounding eight hours.
His creator simply titled this photo “View from the Window at Le Gras”. This awesome piece of history went missing for quite some time and eventually, it was found in storage, in an unknown crate, in 1952, and from that moment has been part of the permanent collection at the University of Texas-Austin. As heliography produces one-of-a-kind images, there are no duplicates of the piece. First and unique: hence its historical value!!!
❷ The first photo ever taken of...a human!
Fig 2. The first photo ever taken of a living person - 1838 *– (https://en.wikipedia.org)*
This is a snapshot captured by Louis Daguerre back in 1838. At first glance it looks like a regular city street by that time, but it’s actually the oldest photo of a human. If you look at the lower left-hand corner, you can see a man. He was standing still and getting his shoes shined, and that’s the only reason the camera could capture him. At the time, it took from about 7 to 10 minutes of constant exposure to capture something on film, otherwise it would become too blurry to see something.
Due to the long exposure time, many individuals who walked the street where not in place long enough to make an impression. This iconic photo was considered by many experts as an accident because they stated that Louis Daguerre, who is credited for creating the daguerreotype style of photography, was simply taking a photo of the street and had no intention to photograph the man however other people say that this photo was a setup, since it is too coincidental that at that precise moment there was a shoe shine at that angle and to top it off with a client, so many peple think that Daguerre pay and mount the scenario to be the first photographer into taking a living person snapshot. One way or another...we'll never know. :)
❸ The Oldest Hoax Photograph
Fig 3. *The first Hoax photograph born from a rivalry between two photographers – 1840 – (https://en.wikipedia.org)*
This photo was taken by Hippolyte Bayard back in 1840. It the final result from the differences that two of the first pioneers of photography had at that time: Hippolyte Bayard and Louis Daguerre. Both claimed the title “Father of Photography”. Bayard had supposedly developed his photography process before Daguerre introduced the Daguerreotype. However, Bayard delayed the announcement of the invention while Daguerre claimed the moment, reporting his discoveries to the French Academy of Sciences, so he got the title while Bayard was left in a second place.
In a rebellious move, Bayard wanted to show that he had committed suicide due to the sadness and anger of losing out to Daguerre. However the picture was a total fake and Mr Bayard lived for many years and even though he didn't know, he produced the very first hoax photo in the history of the photography...consolation prize **:)**
❹ The first photo of a lightning
Fig 4. *William Jennings photographed this lightning back in September 2, 1882 (https://t.me/rarephotos19)*
Trying to prove that lightning was a far more varied and volatile thing than a simple zig zag in the sky as depicted by paintings before the dawn of photography, William Jennings started to take photos of lightnings. Jennings’ first attempts on photograph a lightning failed because the photographic emulsions of the time weren’t sensitive enough, however one year later a pioneer film maker, John Carbutt, produced a superior emulsion and supplied Jennings a boxful...then Mr. Jennings had success.
On September 5th, 1885 the magazine Scientific American published several of Jennings’ lightning photos, prompting local newspapers to declare him the first to capture the phenomenon on camera. Many of the lightning shots he took were taken from the roof of his own house in Philadelphia in the middle of thunderstorms. Jennings photographed many lightnings thru his whole life as an accomplished photographer but above all, as a scientist.
❺ The very first underwater photo
Fig 5. *Taken in Weymouth bay, Dorset, southwest of England, back in 1856 this is the widely recognized first underwater photo ever taken (https://h2ography.com.au)*
This photo was taken by a marine life fanatic, an Englishman photographer named William Thompson. He took this photo in the year of 1856. He had a carpenter make him a waterproof, wooden box inside of which could be placed a 4″ x 5″, wet colloidion glass plate camera. Its shutter was known to be activated using a line from the surface using a boat driven by a friend. When he took the photo he did not know what underwater landscape he was pointing out, so it was like a blind portrait. When he revealed the photograph, he produced this black-and-white image of the waters of Dorset on 4″ by 5″ glass plates.
The depth to which the tripod was submerged was about 18 feet below the surface and the expusure time was about ten minutes long. A curious data is that that day Thompson made two attempts. For the first he allowed an exposure time of five minutes but found that the plate having been developed registered nothing. Then he doubled the exposure time getting what we know today as the first underwater photo where it is possible faintly to discern the outlines of boulders and seaweed...awesome! :)
❻ The first photo with the use of montage.
Fig 6. “Fading Away” was the first photo with the use of montage
*- 1858 – (https://www.inthein-between.com)*
Photomontage, according to Wikipedia, is “the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image”. This photo is known as the first one of its kind. It was taken by Englishman Henry Peach Robinson back in 1853. Robinson is known as one of the first artists to use compositing techniques in his photographs. “Fading Away” is just the first of his jobs using this technique.
This photo depicts a young girl slowly dying from tuberculosis while surrounded by her mourning family. Mr. Robinson used up to 5 negatives to overlap to achieve the desired effect. After taking those pictures he manually put together the overlaping between negatives in the darkroom using a technique called combination printing (...like a 1800´s Photoshop software *:)* ). It allowed him to join elements from different negatives, as well as manipulate the exposure in order to create the perfect photograph that embodied his vision...death and sorrow. **:(**
Final thougths...by now
The world of photography is really awesome. From early days till today a wide range of incredible photographers have amazed us with their creations. What is really a shame is that there may be more “first photographs” hidden in some boxes or basements out there, still undiscovered and maybe we never know about them.
Lost forever those precious gems, part of human history, we can only marvel at the ingenuity and human creation and follow the trail in case some other of those photographic wonders comes to light. This is the first part of a series of articles dedicated to historical and iconic photographs of all times. Hope you, dear reader, have enjoyed this first compilation of historic photos..soon will be more!!!
If you are an enthusiast of historical photograph and amazing discoveries do not forget to follow me at https://coil.com/u/deyner1984 because i will be releasing soon new and impressive contents about it!!!
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