© Mark Ollig
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was a French inventor who took the world’s first photograph.
Nearly 200 years ago, he set up his wooden box camera on a pedestal in front of the window in an upstairs room of his family’s home at the Le Gras estate in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France.
He opened the window and adjusted the camera’s lens to capture the outdoor scenery surrounding the estate on what I assume was a sunny day.
After about eight hours, Niépce opened the camera and removed a metal plate coated with a light-sensitive material called bitumen of Judea.
He rinsed the metal plate with different solvents, causing the unexposed areas of the metal surface to dissolve, leaving a permanent image of the buildings and the surrounding countryside on the metal plate.
This was the world’s first photograph.
The year Niépce captured this image is disputed – some say 1826, others say 1827.
On July 5, 1833, in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce died at 68.
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce significantly impacted photography by inventing heliography, a process that produces long-lasting photographic images.
“The Niépce Heliograph,” aka “View from the Window at Le Gras,” is displayed at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, TX.
The eight-inch by six-and-half-inch metal plate image is securely protected inside an airtight steel and plexiglass display case filled with inert gas.
Visit https://tinyurl.com/TheFirstPhoto to see the world’s first photograph.
During the late 1800s, photography could be challenging and time-consuming due to the need for large and heavy glass plates to be hand-loaded into cameras.
In 1888, American George Eastman introduced the first Kodak box camera, serial number 540, made of wood, metal, and leather.
Its groundbreaking film-loading system used a 100-exposure roll of flexible nitrocellulose film, making bulky glass-plate negatives unnecessary.
However, the entire camera had to be sent back to Kodak for the film to be developed and prints to be made.
Kodak would then reload the camera with film and return it to the user.
The Kodak Model 540 camera sold for $25, equivalent to $802 today, and was primarily purchased by affluent individuals interested in photography.
Frank A. Brownell was born in Vienna, Ontario, Canada, Feb. 4, 1859.
On Dec. 9, 1890, Brownell obtained US Patent No. 442,216, titled “Photographic Camera,” and established the Brownell Manufacturing Company, where he used his expertise in wood and metalworking assembling cameras.
George Eastman hired Brownell to assist with assembling Kodak’s wooden box camera and roll film holder.
Their partnership grew, and the Brownell Manufacturing Company became the sole producer of Kodak cameras from 1888 to 1902.
Brownell developed and manufactured the first Brownie camera, subsequently sold by the Eastman Kodak Company in 1900.
The first Brownie cardboard box camera, which only cost $1 ($36 today), was affordable for most people and made it easy to take up to six 2.25-inch square snapshots using black and white 117 film.
The camera used a meniscus (convex-concave) lens to focus light from the picture subjects onto the film, which could be removed and developed at home.
The Brownie camera was named after the popular children’s book characters “The Brownies” by Palmer Cox, and partly because it was originally manufactured by Frank A. Brownell.
In 1901, Kodak released an upgraded version of the Brownie camera called the Brownie No. 2. It cost $2 and used 120 film to produce photos that were 3.25 inches by 2.25 inches in size.
A year later, Eastman Kodak Company bought out Brownell but retained him as their “camera design expert.”
It is estimated that over two million Brownie No. 2 cameras were sold between 1901 and 1915.
By 1927, the photography industry in the US was, for the most part, dominated by the Eastman Kodak Company.
In 1931, Kodak launched the 620 film format, similar to 120 film but lighter weight and with a slimmer spool.
Each roll of 620 film took eight, 12, or 16 pictures, depending on the camera model.
The 1932 Kodak Six-20 self-folding camera, using the 620 film format, was introduced in 1932 for $38 ($810 today).
Other cameras from that era also used Kodak 620 film.
In 1946, Eastman Kodak introduced the affordable $3.50 ($58 today) Brownie Target Six-20 Art Deco-styled box-type camera model that took eight pictures on a single roll of 62mm length 620 film.
The Brownie Target Six-20 camera’s distinct Art Deco vertical design on its front plate was reminiscent of the era’s architectural skyscrapers.
The camera measures four inches in height, three inches in width, and five inches in depth. It weighs approximately one pound.
It has a portrait viewfinder at the top, and a landscape viewer on the right.
To prevent blurry photos caused by “camera shake,” keeping the camera steady while taking pictures was needed due to the slow shutter speed of 1/50th of a second.
Although the Kodak Brownie Target Six-20 Art Deco model was discontinued in 1952, it remains a popular camera for collectors and vintage photography enthusiasts.
Frank Alexander Brownell, the inventor of the original Brownie camera, died in Rochester, NY, Feb. 2, 1939, just two days before his 80th birthday.
Below are photos of my Brownie Target Six-20 camera.
