Revealing the 200-year history of the world's first photograph
A Frenchman took this photo exactly 2 centuries ago.
This is a replica of the "Discovery Chamber", the camera used by photographer Nicéphore Niépce to take the world's first photograph in 1824.
The journey to create the photo was recounted by Mr. Niépce himself in a letter to his brother on September 16, 1824.
Mr. Manuel Boonet - historian, descendant of the Nicéphore Niépce family - revealed: "This scene was taken from the brother's room, on the Gras side. And the brother used the largest darkroom and the largest stone for this purpose. Since this proof is almost colorless, one can only appreciate the effect by looking at the stone sideways. Then the eye will perceive it, with the help of darkness and light reflection. And this effect is truly magical".
The view from the window of a house in the French village of Saint-Loup-de-Va-rens is the first image recorded by a camera.
In a letter to his brother, Mr. Nicéphore Niépce talked about his first fixed image. Accordingly, the image fixing process was done by mixing asphalt with lavender essence, coating them on a metal plate and heating them. This method would make the metal plate sensitive to light, but it took three days for the image to appear.
Mr. Pierre-Yves Mahe - founder of the Spéos School of Photography, France - said: "Finding hundreds of original documents by Nicéphore Niépce, especially in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has allowed us to rewrite the history of photography and put everything back in the order it happened".
While the first photograph on the rock has disappeared, another is believed to have been taken by Nicéphore Niépce from the same floor in 1827. The photo above, titled "View from the Windows at Le Gras", is now housed at the University of Texas at Austin, USA - considered the world's first surviving photograph.
And to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the invention of photography, an exhibition celebrating the art form and Nicéphore Niépce's revolutionary work is being held at the Quai de la Photo, France from September 16 to December 22, 2024.
