Photography
InventorLouis Daguerre
Year1839
CategoryArt/Communication
OriginFrance
About Photography
Daguerreotypes required 10 minutes of exposure in bright sunlight. Earlier, Nicephore Niepce captured the first photograph in 1826, an 8-hour exposure. The French government bought the patent and released it as a gift to the world. Portrait painters feared for their livelihoods.