Niépce's photograph

In short

Nicéphore Niépce, a French inventor, was looking for a way to fix the images that form inside a camera obscura. He placed a pewter plate coated with bitumen, a substance that hardens in light, in front of the window of his country house at Saint-Loup-de-Varennes. After a very long exposure, hours or perhaps days, a view of the roofs and the courtyard appeared. It is the oldest surviving photograph of a real scene.

Why it matters From that blurry plate came photography, which has changed the way we remember and tell the story of the world.

Source: Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, “The First Photograph”

Where we are in the era “Age of revolutions”

Your turn

Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________

1. When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:

2. Tell it in your own words: what happened?

3. Draw the scene below.

storiascopio.com/en/event/niepce-s-photograph/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class