It all started back in time of camera obscura - a device that used lens or pinhole to project images upside down on viewing surfaces by ancient Greeks and Chinese. The first camera was invented by Alexander Wolcott. His camera design was patented on 8 may, 1840. With the invention of Alexander Wolcott it was possible to click candid pictures that did not fade away with time.
However, the earliest photographs were not taken with Alexander Wolcott's invention. It was Joseph Nicéphore Niépce who used a sliding wooden box to take photographs. Ibn al-Haytham is also credited with inventing the first camera obscura. In Latin, camera obscura means dark chamber. A camera obscura may be a building with small holes used in the same method as a pinhole camera, or it may be a small box with a hole in it, serving the same purpose. This primitive camera works by having light travel through the hole, strike a reflective surface and project an image in colour, upside down. These cameras were popular as entertainment devices at the time because tracing the projected image could create very accurate drawings or paintings.In the 18th century, similar cameras were created and mirrors were used as the reflective surface. By using mirrors, the reflected image was then projected as right side up, instead of upside down. |