Photography has a miraculous and brilliant past that is laden with ingenious developments. From the early 1500′s when people merely filtered light through a lens on to the wall, to the present day everyday digital cameras that have evolved more than any could have imagined, photography has evolved in all way, shapes and forms. The following is a brief historic timeline of the development of the art.
- 5thCentury B.C. – Basic principles of optics and the camera were discovered by Greek and Chinese philosophers.
- 1500s – Camera Obscuras, or “darkened rooms,” that filtered light through a lens to project images on the walls become popular.
- 1600s – Robert Boyle discovers that silver chloride darkens when exposed to light.
- 1600s - The portable camera obscure was invented.
- 1600s - Isaac Newton discovers that white light is composed of seven distinct hues.
- 1727 - Johann Heinrich Schulze discovers that silver nitrate darkens when exposed to light.
- 1790s - Thomas Wedgewood introduces Sun Prints that he created by using light and heat to create a change in chemical substances applied to silver nitrate infused leather or glass surfaces.
- 1837 - Louis Daguerre’s daguerreotype was the first permanent image that didn’t fade and developed in under thirty minutes.
- 1841 - The Calotype process allows for production of multiple copies of photos.
- 1850 - Louis Desire Blanquart-Evrard begins the using albumen paper for image printing.
- 1861 - The stereoscope viewer was invented by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
- 1871 - The development of the dry gelatin silver bromide process by Richard Leach Maddox eliminated the need to develop negatives immediately.
- 1888 - The first roll-film camera was patented.
- 1898 - Celluloid photographic film was introduced.
- 1900 - Eastman Kodak mass-markets the first camera, “the Brownie,” which continues on into the 1960s.
- 1914 - The first 35mm still camera is produced.
- 1927 - Flash bulbs are developed.
- 1936 - Kodachrome, the first multi-layer color film, is developed.
- 1948 - The Polaroid black and white instant camera is introduced by Edwin H. Land.
- 1954 - Rising popularity of high-speed photography leads to Eastman Kodak’s development of high-speed Tri-X film.
- 1978 - Point-and-shoot, autofocus cameras are introduced by Konica.
- 1984 - The first digital, electronic, still image camera is revealed by Cannon.
- 1990 - Photo CD’s become a digital image storage medium.
- 1998 - Megapixel cameras begin to flood the market.
- 2000 - Camera phones begin production in Japan.
- 2005 - Gigapixel technology was introduced to high power digital cameras.
- 2011 - The quality of digital imagery production now goes as high as 4 gigapixels (4000 megapixels) and can produce awe inspiring photographs like nothing ever imagined in the past.