The History of Photography [Infographic]

A Brief History on Photography

It’s hard to believe that photography has been around since 1826.  Over the past 100+ years, we have seen a number of technological advancements in photography.

For example, in 1878, high speed photography made its first appearance.   In 1960, film gave way to digital photos taken from the moon.  Then in the 80s, Polaroid introduced the instant camera, where you could take a photo and have an instant print-out within seconds.  Fast-forward and photography has taken another GIANT leap.  This time, courtesy of social media and mobile phones.

Past vs Present

In the past, cameras used to be expensive and required film.  Because of this, only professionals tended to own one.  Today, nearly anyone with a smartphone has a solid, quality camera at their disposal because the advancements in photography have helped to shrink the size of the camera, reduce the price, and reduce the need for film, replacing it with a hard drive instead.

Additionally, the proliferation of social networks that have popped up in recent years have encouraged users to share more of their daily lives – and because of that, they’re taking more and more photos.

Because we’re taking and sharing more and more photos, social media has helped us to expand the size of our networks as well as turn us into budding photographers, allowing us the opportunity to pay homage to cameras from decades past with the help of photo filters.

Take a moment to check out an infographic on the history of photography – it’s pretty remarkable how far we’ve come.

With mobile phones (mainly smartphones) replacing cameras, how do you prefer to take photographs? With your mobile phone or your larger camera? Leave a comment below.