History of Photography Vocabulary

Flashcards based on lecture notes about the history of photography.

Photography

The art or process of taking pictures using light, usually with a camera.

Camera Obscura

A dark room or box with a small hole or lens that lets light in to project an image onto a surface inside.

Johann Schulze

A German scientist who discovered that certain materials darken when exposed to light, helping lead to photography.

Joseph Niépce

A French inventor who took the world’s first photograph using a light-sensitive chemical on a metal plate.

8 (Hours)

The amount of time the first photograph had to be exposed to light to appear.

Louis Daguerre

A Frenchman who improved the photo process and created the daguerreotype.

Daguerreotype

One of the first types of photographs, made on a polished silver plate and named after its inventor.

William Talbot

An Englishman who created a way to make paper prints from a negative image.

Wet Plate

Photo process where glass plates had to be coated, exposed, and developed while still wet.

Maddox

Inventor of the dry plate, which could be used later and didn’t need to be developed right away.

Maxwell

Scientist who made the first color photographs in 1861.

George Eastman

The American who invented the Kodak camera, making photography easier and more popular for everyone.

Shorter

As cameras improved, shorter exposure times helped make taking portraits easier.