The first few years.

Photography emerged in the early 19th century through chemical experiment and mechanical curiosity. In 1826, Nicéphore Niépce produced the first permanent image using bitumen on a metal plate. His collaborator, Louis Daguerre, introduced the daguerreotype in 1839, creating detailed single images that astonished the public. Around the same time, William Henry Fox Talbot developed the calotype, a paper negative process that allowed multiple prints. By the 1850s, portrait studios appeared in cities worldwide, and photographers joined expeditions to document exploration, war, and science. The wet collodion process of the 1850s and dry plates of the 1870s improved speed and clarity. Within fifty years, photography had evolved from laboratory curiosity to global industry — a new visual language shaping modern memory.