The Oldest Photograph

Two hundred years on, I wonder what Nicéphore Niépce would make of our worldwide love of photography today, with some 60,000 photos taken every second. Niépce is credited with taking the world’s oldest surviving photograph in 1826 (or 1827, historians disagree) from his brother’s upstairs bedroom window in Le Gras, the family estate in eastern France. We know the exposure was at least eight hours long, since sunlight can be seen on opposite walls, and may have lasted several days. It shows buildings and the surrounding countryside. Nicéphore and his older brother Claude had previously invented the Pyréolophore, one of the world’s first internal combustion engines, which was able to power a boat upstream on the Saône river. Their attempts to monetize the invention fell short, with Claude squandering the family fortune in England while trying, unsuccessfully, to obtain backing for the engine before suffering from mental illness.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.