The history of Photography

Pinhole Camera

Pinhole cameras do not have lenses. A tiny hole lets light pass through and form an image inside the camera. It is a box with a tiny hole at one end and film or photo paper on the other end.

Heliograph

camera obscura



A polished metal plate is coated with bitumen asphalt. A design is added then exposed to light. The part with an image hardens and the soft unexposed area gets washed away. This leaves an image on the slide.

Box Camera

In the late 1800s Kodak Brownie camera used film paper rolls

Movie cameras





Film photography began in the late 1800s

Instant cameras

Polaroid instant cameras first sold in 1948. They were popular in the 1960s and could be printed in minutes.

Digital cameras

photo cards

The first commercial DSLR camera sold in 1991. Pixelated images are stored on photo cards and printed by computers