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

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 get 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. The 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 is stored 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 the Boulevard du Temple. Two people were caught in the frame. Their silhouettes can be distinguished in the lower left corner.

4. The oldest selfie

The first selfie in the world is considered to be a picture of the photographer Robert Cornelius, which he took in Philadelphia in 1839. The American used an improved daguerreotype plate, which reduced the exposure time: Robert only stood still for five minutes.

5. The first picture of the Moon 

Daguerreotype of 1840, made by the American John Draper from the observatory at New York University. Pretty messed up by time.

6. The First picture of the Sun

Five years after the Moon, the Sun was also captured. This was done by French physicists Louis Fizeau and Leon Foucault. They even managed to fix sunspots.

7. The oldest aerial photo

Unfortunately, the shot taken by the French photographer Gaspard Tournachon during a hot air balloon flight has not been preserved. Namely, it is considered the first of its kind. But the image of Boston from a height of six hundred meters by James Black has come down to us. It is dated 1860.

8. The first photo of a tornado

In April 1884, an amateur photographer from Kansas, Alain Adams, photographed a tornado that was slowly crawling near his village. Thus, without knowing it, Adams started a whole direction in photography, called "Storm Chasers".

9. The first image of the Earth from the Moon

In the summer of 1966, an American-made orbiter circled the Moon and on the 16th circle snapped the Earth.

10. First color photo

"Tartan ribbon" - a picture of a bow made of multicolored Scottish ribbons, obtained using the three-color theory of the famous physicist James Maxwell. In May 1861, the Briton Thomas Sutton received three color-separated images, which were combined into a common picture by simultaneously projecting onto the screen through color light filters. 

11. The first color underwater photo

In 1926, National Geographic magazine staff photographer Charles Martin and botanist William Longley placed a camera in a waterproof shell, armed themselves with a magnesium flash, and made the long-tailed guban part of the history of photography.

12. The oldest digital photography

For the first time, a digital photo was taken earlier than you think. In 1957. American engineer Russell Kirsch scanned a picture of his son. This mister actually invented the scanner.

13. First Instagram post

Instagram founder Kevin Systrom posted a photo of his dog on July 16, 2010. Strictly speaking, not in Instagram, but in the Codename app, which in three months gained a world-famous name.