| 1820s-1830s |
mid-1820s first experiments with early photographic techniques
1839 daguerreotype process is made public in France
1839 the first camera, the Giroux Daguerreotype, is made commercially available |
| 1840s |
1840s widespread use of the daguerreotype in Europe and United States
1840 paper negative invented by William Henry Fox Talbot
1843 advent of the photographic enlarger
1845 Matthew Brady opens portrait studio in New York City
1849 advent of the twin-lens camera and the development of the stereoscopic image
1849 first images of Egypt are published and give rise to travel photography |
1850s-
1860s |
1851 introduction of the glass plate negative process
1856 photojournalism is invented when images of the Crimean
War are published
1861 Matthew Brady and other photographers record Civil War |
W.H. Jackson
Upper Falls, Yellowstone River, ca. 1870
albumen print from glass negative
NYPL Digital ID: 1211897 |
| 1870s |
1870s U.S. Congress sends photographers William H. Jackson and Timothy O’Sullivan out West to document the American landscape |
| 1880s |
1880s improvements to glass plate negative process renders it easier and more convenient for photographers
1880s general use of the gelatin silver print
1887 introduction of cellulose photographic film negative
1888 introduction of the Kodak box camera simplifies photography and casual “snapshot” photography is born |
| 1900s |
1900 Kodak sells the $1.00 Brownie camera and makes photography widely available
1902 Alfred Stieglitz publishes Camera Work which promotes photography as an art |
| 1920s |
1920s advent of the carbro print - the first full-color photographic process |
| 1930s |
1935 development of Kodachrome film – the first multi-layered color film |
| 1940s |
1940s development of the color chromogenic print
1947 Edwin Land creates the dye diffusion transfer print – commonly known as instant photography or the “Polaroid” |
| 1960s |
1960s rise in popularity of the Polaroid camera
1963 release of the Polaroid color camera
1963 earliest pre-cursor to the digital camera is developed at Stanford University |
| 1970s |
1978 Konica introduces the first “point-and-shoot” auto focus camera |
| 1980s |
1984 Canon demonstrates the first digital electronic still camera
1989 introduction of the single use or “disposable” camera |
| 1990s |
1990 first digital cameras are available on the retail market
1992 Kodak introduces the first PhotoCD
1994 sale of the first consumer-level digital camera able to work with a home computer |
