33 Historical Photos That Might Change Your Perspective On Things

The history of photography begins with very tangible chemical processes, far from the powerful digital sensors and endless reproduction we enjoy today. The first photo that has survived to this day was taken in 1826 or 1827 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. In his heliograph, the view from a window in his home was reproduced in low fidelity using a process involving bitumen (a component of asphalt) and lavender oil.

The first photo approximating modern life-like quality standards was invented by Louis Daguerre. He named the daguerreotype process after himself, so we must be grateful that better and less egotistically named processes were discovered later. Although daguerreotypes required longer exposure times of up to several minutes, this was a vast improvement over the 8-ish hours used for Niépce’s heliograph.

Cultural attitudes towards photography also changed as the technology improved. With the long exposure times of early processes, photographs could be thought of much like still-life or portrait paintings. Families or dignitaries would dress up to sit for a portrait, or artists would select beautiful landscapes or scenes to photograph. As film exposure times shortened and film became easier to acquire and process, photographers were able to start experimenting more boldly and to start capturing dynamic shots.

The photographs in this collection come from a wide range of different historical photographic processes, but of course, the most fascinating aspect of each is the subject matter. In most, the people depicted are no longer with us, and if their memories don’t live on with their progeny, these may be the only signs of their existence that we have left. We invite you to spend some time with these photos and try to imagine what the moments they captured might have looked, sounded, felt, and even smelled like so many years ago.