Niépces

Niépces refers to Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a French inventor who is credited with creating the world's first photograph. He is a significant figure in the history of photography.

Born in 1765, Niépce was an inventor and chemist. He experimented with various chemical processes, particularly those involving light-sensitive materials. His most famous achievement came in 1826 or 1827 when he captured the image from his upstairs window in Le Gras, France, using a technique he called heliography. This image, titled "View from the Window at Le Gras," is recognized as the earliest surviving photograph.

Niépce's process was complex and involved coating a pewter plate with bitumen of Judea. When exposed to light, the bitumen hardened in proportion to the light it received. The unhardened bitumen was then washed away with a solvent, revealing the image. The exposure times were extremely long, often lasting many hours or even days.

He later collaborated with Louis Daguerre, another inventor who was also working on photographic processes. This partnership led to the development of the daguerreotype, a process that was more practical and commercially successful than Niépce's heliography. However, Niépce died before the daguerreotype was publicly announced, and Daguerre received much of the initial credit for its invention. Despite this, Niépce's pioneering work laid the essential groundwork for the birth of photography.