The word photography originates from the Greek, with photo meaning light and graphos meaning to write. When put together it means write with light. Primitive forms of photography have been around since at least the 16th century. Original versions of cameras projected what was in front of a wall in a darkened room onto a surface. The entire room was more or less turned into a huge
pinhole camera.
In 1825, the first camera produced image is believed to have been made. It took eight hours to gain the correct exposure in bright sunshine. Today, photos can be produced in fractions of a second.
By 1840, paper sheets were coated with silver chloride to create negative images, but they couldn't produce positive prints. Years later George Eastman expanded on this process and today it is the basic technology used by chemical
film cameras.
Today photography is one of the world's greatest hobbies and professions alike. Some people take photography very seriously, while others just like to take snapshots with
disposable cameras. Technology has advanced photography techniques and equipment greatly over the years. Computer assisted and driven cameras and
video cameras are now available, as are
underwater models. You can be hundreds of yards away and still get crisp images with the development of
telephoto lenses. You can now take internal body photographs with the development of x-rays and outer space pictures with
satellite photography. You can bet there will be more major breakthroughs in the world of photography in the near future.
