The oldest photos of its kind: from the first daguerreotype to the first post on Instagram

The term "photography" appeared at the beginning of the XIX century, but the history of this art form has its roots in much more ancient times. Mention of the pinhole camera — the simplest device that allows you to obtain an optical image of objects - is found in the works of Aristotle, who lived in the IV century BC. And yet photography began to develop actively only in the century before last, when heliography was invented, and then daguerreotype. Technology began to improve rapidly, and then it began: the first picture of the Moon, the first selfie, the first aerial photo and, finally, the first photo posted on Instagram.

1. The oldest photo

The very first photograph (at least of the surviving ones) was taken by the Frenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce, the creator of heliography, in 1826 or 1827. It shows a view from the window of the Niepce family estate in Burgundy. For a long time, the picture has been kept at the University of Texas at Austin.

2. The first daguerreotype

"The artist's Workshop", 1837. This frame was the first successful trial of Louis Daguerre's pen, after he developed the daguerreotype process. It was presented at a meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences during the announcement of the invention.

3. The first photo of people

In 1839, Daguerre photographed Paris with a 10-minute exposure from the roof of a building on Boulevard du Temple. Two people got into the frame. Their silhouettes can be distinguished in the lower left corner.

4. The oldest selfie

5. The first picture of the Moon

6. The first picture of the Sun

7. The oldest aerial photo

8. The first photo of a tornado

9. The first picture of the Earth from the Moon

10. The first color photo

11. The first color underwater photo

12. The oldest digital photography

13. The first post on Instagram