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A Brief History of Photography (4)
The "inventor" of photography
In the 19th century, several talented individuals were all trying to find the secret of capturing images and rendering them permanent. But it is Louis Jacques Mandé
Daguerre who is most widely regarded as the inventor of photography. He worked closely with Joseph Niépce - accredited with having taken the world's first photograph - and then Niépce's son,
Isidore. Following a demonstration of their invention - the daguerreotype - to the French Acadamy of Sciences, both
Daguerre and Niépce were awarded state pensions in return for handing over full details of the invention to the Ministry of the Interior. On 19 August 1839, astronomer and physicist Dominique François
Argo, a Daguerre supporter, made the technical details public. Daguerre followed by publishing a 70-page document describing the process. Opticians throughout Paris were besieged by people clamouring to buy the necessary equipment. In 1839 a daguerreotype of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris, captured the image of a human being - considered to be the first ever.
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