Beatris Hastings Painting by Amedo Modigalini

medo Modigliani

NIEPCE
FRANCE: INVENTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
BORN: 1765 DIED: 1833

You must be aware of the tremendous progress made by photography in the recent years. First, we had Polaroid cameras, with which you could have prints in minutes, and then came fully automatic cameras that need no setting of focus, aperture or distance. You have to press the shutter only to get quality photographs. It was Niepce who invented the first mechanical device that made photography possible and became an art form in later years.

Niepce (Joseph) Nicephore was born at a place called Das in France. Niepce looked after his land. His elder brother, Claude, was very talented. Both of them made an engine that could be fitted to boats. They failed to find a manufacturer willing to make engines and market them commercially. Claude lost his mental balance while Joseph be came bankrupt. During this period of depression and despair, he worked with a painter named Dagerat.

Joseph had started working in the direction of photography for pretty long time. He learnt a lot from the experiments of English scientist Thomas Wedgewood. In 1816, he started to assemble the first camera to get permanent photographs. By 1826, he was successful in his efforts. He experimented with paper, glass and metal and used acids that were sensitive to light. In 1816, he was successful in getting a negative on paper, and continued to experiment till 1822. He was acclaimed as founder of photography only after 100 years. His son sold the rights of his invention to French government in 1839. His three cameras and two rare photographs are still preserved.