It was an ordinary day. So ordinary that I almost forgot to celebrate World Photography Day with you. Two days ago, on August 19th, the world observed World Photography Day. World Photography Day is a globally recognized celebration of photography and its history. It happened to be on August 19 when we celebrated the invention of the Daguerrotype which was devised by France's Louis-Jacques-Mandé Dagueerre in 1837. His invention was sold to the French Academy of Sciences which they then gifted to the world on August 19, 1839. But, we didn't begin to celebrate World Photography Day until 1991. In 1988 Indian professional photographer OP Sharma got the idea to do so. He approached several world master photographers as well as the Photographic Society of America with the idea of celebrating the day, since August 19 was the recorded date that the French Government announced the invention of the Daguerreotype process of photography as a "free gift to the world." Three years later a decision was made by all involved and the world began celebrating World Photography Day. Now, if you have never heard of Louis Daguerre, he was an artist and physicist who became a famous theatre designer. He was a business partner with inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce whose heliography method is the forebearer of the photographic process. Niépce's image "View From The Window At Le Gras," recorded on a polished sheet of pewter plate coated with light-sensitive bitumen in 1826 is the earliest surviving permanent image from nature. Daguerre later developed his own unique process following Niépce's death in 1833. He invented the Daguerreotype in 1837, which was a positive image recorded on a copper plate coated with silver iodide. Latent images produced in a camera were developed by exposure to mercury vapor and then fixed by a strong salt solution.
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| Mr. Louis Daguerre |
Mr. Daguerre sold his invention to the French Academy of Sciences in exchange for an annual pension of 6,000 francs as well as an annual stipend of 4,000 francs to the Niépce estate. The process was announced on January 7, 1839 with free, full details given to the world on August 19 of that year. Each photograph was unique, since no negative was made in this process. Daguerre's "View Of The Boulevard du Temple", taken from the window of his apartment in Paris in 1838, is a unique example of early street photography that includes the first known recorded image of a human being.  |
| View of the Boulevard du Temple |
Since the exposure took close to 15 minutes to record, only the man getting a shoeshine stayed still enough to be recorded. Finally, after all those years, World Photography Day had become reality. I had my camera out taking photographs of my two cats this past Thursday, World Photography Day! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. |
| Snickerdoodle |
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The Gray Lady
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