49 Historical Photos That You Probably Haven’t Seen Before

While photography as an art and a practicality would come about later, a device commonly referred to as a camera obscura was used to project “images” onto walls in a darkened room. Han Chinese philosopher Mozi describes the physics behind this phenomenon in roughly the 4th century BCE. 

It can be thought of more like a projector, than a camera, creating a temporary image on a flat surface. The only way to preserve or replicate it, would be to manually trace the image, which is why they were commonly used as drawing tools for architects and designers. 

The first image from a camera was created in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a French inventor. He managed to capture the view from his window, although the process did require eight hours of exposure on pewter coated with bitumen. Nevertheless, he achieved an image that wasn’t just some light on a wall. Over time, inventors would, bit by bit, reduce the time needed to capture something. 

The first camera that could be effectively manufactured was invented in 1839 by another Frenchman, Alphonse Giroux. His device cost around 400 francs, a solid chunk of change at the time, and would only take between half an hour to an hour to “create” an image. Unfortunately for Alphonse, others took his idea and quickly upgraded it, creating more popular products. 

Despite the venerable age of some of these cameras, they were still a highly niche product, expensive, unwieldy, and annoying to use. Drawing and painting were considerably easier solutions if you wanted to depict a portrait, plus then you could easily “improve” the image of yourself, which no doubt many rich folk did. 

Another issue was the need for a specialist to handle the camera and the materials to produce the picture. At best, most people of the time saw cameras as a weird niche machine that made blurry, black-and-white images, which tended to not be particularly durable or strong compared to most alternative visual mediums of the time. 

A major breakthrough was the invention of mass-produced film and 35mm film in particular. Multiple brands and inventors based cameras around this film, allowing for “regular people” to more easily take and process photos. While not dirt cheap, an average working person could buy a camera and supply it with film if they really wanted to. 

Soon photographs were no longer a novelty, but a staple, as newspapers began to print images. Just a few decades ago, Polaroid came out with the very first instant image cameras, cutting out the wait period between taking photos and the negatives being developed. While the quality was not amazing, it’s a far cry from the multi-hour waits associated with cameras in a previous era. 

While amateur photographers could easily document anything they could capture, professionals had already learned how to edit and manipulate images. This practice existed long before digital images, photoshop, and filters, going all the way back to the 20th century, when photographers would “insert” their work into paintings or create a “montage” of multiple images. 

Despite its age, photography is still considered a new medium, as it still requires an interplay between the human creator and technology. While the photographer can choose how to frame what they take, they can’t manipulate or control the image nearly as much as an artist, painter or sculptor can. 

With the advent of the smartphone, the entire plant can take and share images faster than ever, so when you are snapping your next pic, be grateful for the machine in your pocket. If you have been enjoying this collection of vintage photos so far, why stop? Bored Panda has other articles on old images that you can check out. Alternatively, feel free to look through our article taking old photos of a location and comparing it to what it looks like now.