Photographic Beginnings

        Niepce produced the first picture in June 1827. He used hardened materials that were exposed to light. The picture required eight hours exposure to light. Although this invention gave room to more improvement, the person who made the most remarkable contribution to photography is Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. He wrote a letter to Niepce mentioning to him that he was also working with light images and he would like both of them to join hands because they were pursuing the same project. He also enquired about the progress of his project. At first, Niepce was cautious. However, after his visit to Daguerre, all his suspicions were allayed. They later formed partnership in 1829 in order to improve the heliographic process. However, Niepce died later before making remarkable contribution to the industry. Nevertheless, after his death, Daguerre made different experiments with silver iodide. Through his experiments, he came to discover that treatment of mercury vapor on a silver plate that has been iodized would produce a visible image after being exposed to light. Through the use of strong solution of salt, he was also able to stabilize the image (Gustavson 87). The government later acknowledged his work and photography started gaining popularity. The demand for photographs increased in different cities across the world. Later Talbot contributed by putting the photography in paper. However, he added on the gaps that were left by Daguerre inventions.

Niepce, Bayard, Daguerre, and Talbot techniques did not differ significantly. Instead, the major difference was on materials that they used to produce pictures. For instance, Niepce used glass materials coated with bitumen (Batchen 34). On the other hand, Daguerre used mercury vapor and iodized silver plate to make a visible image. Bayard and Talbot discovered how to put an image on the paper. Therefore each technique was an improvement to the original concept of making photographs. As a result, although some made more contribution, all of them have a major impact on the photography industry that we enjoy today.

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