1725-27 Johann Heinrich Schulze discovers and experiments with the darkening action of light on mixtures of chalk and silver nitrate. 1760
Tiphaigne de la Roche predicts photography in Giphantie. 1777
Carl Wilhelm Scheele proves ammonia stabilizes darkened silver salts. 1786
Gilles-Louis Chrétien develops the Physionotrace for profile portraits. 1794
Robert Barker opens the first Panorama, prototype of future movie houses.
1802
Thomas Wedgwood, following the experiments of Schulze and Scheele, produces silhouettes by use of silver nitrate but is unable to fix the images. 1806
William Hyde Wollaston invents the camera lucida. 1816
France - Joseph Nicéphore Niépce's attempts at photography he called heliography (sundrawing) records a view from his workroom window on paper sensitized with silver chloride, but he is only partially able to fix the image. 1816-26
Niépce achieves his first photographic image with a camera obscura. 1819
A British scientist named John Herschel discovers a photographic fixative, hyposulfite of soda dissolves silver salts. 1822
Niépce succeeds in obtaining a photographic copy of an engraving superimposed on glass. 1826
The invention of the Thaumatrope, a "persistence of vision" toy, is credited to John Ayrton Paris. Niépce, using a camera, makes a view from his workroom window on a pewter plate.
1827
Charles Wheatstone describes a moving shutter.1829
Niépce and Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre form a 10-year partnership to develop photography. They discover the light sensitivity of silver iodide.
Top
1832
Brazilian Hercules Florence discovers a method for obtaining images by the action of light. Joseph Plateau builds the Phenakisticope, an optical toy, that creates the illusion of movement by mounting drawings on the face of a slotted, twirling disk. Another image animation novelty, the Zoetrope (c. 1834) uses a rotating drum. Wheatstone invents a non-photographic stereoscopic viewing device. 1833
William Henry Fox Talbot begins activities experiments which lead to the discovery that images can be made on paper by the action of light. 1835
Talbot photographs window at Lacock Abbey. 1837
Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre creates his first daguerreotype.
 1838
Charles Wheatstone discovers stereoscopic projection. 1839
Announcement is made in France regarding the success of Daguerre's process for creating images on silver coated copper plates. Invisible images become visible after plates are chemically developed. The French government details the process to society. Giroux Daguerreotype camera is introduced; first commercially-manufactured camera. Alexander Wolcott receives first American patent in photography for his camera. The Petzval lens is introduced. Mungo Ponton, a Scottish scientist, discovers that potassium bichromate has light-sensitive properties. Talbot formally announces a paper process to achieve images by action of light. He presents his photogenic drawings at the Royal Society in London. In France, Hippolyte Bayard exhibits direct-positive images made by the action of light on sensitized paper inside a camera. D.W. Seager photographs and exhibits the first daguerreotype in the United States. The photograph was of St. Paul’s church in New York.
Top 1840
First Portrait Studio in New York opened by Wolcott and Johnson. 1840's
American photographers Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah Johnson Hawes become known for their distinctive daguerreotype portraits. Well-known American figures of the day, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Daniel Webster, and Oliver Wendell Holmes are photographed by Southworth and Hawes. 1841
William Henry Talbot discovers latent development and patents the calotype process, producing a Calotype negative on paper. Dr. Alexander John Ellis produces the first daguerreotype of the leaning tower of Pisa. 1843
Robert Adamson and David Octavius Hill collaborate to produce calotype portraits of Scottish gentry. Anna Atkins produced the first photographically illustrated album entitled: British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. 1844
The book The Record of The Death-Bed of C.M.W. is the first book to include a photograph (calotype). Talbot publishes "The Pencil of Nature", a publication discussing the range and possibilities of photography, illustrated with numerous original photographs.
Top 1845
Mathew Brady begins to photograph famous persons of his time, including Daniel Webster, Edgar Allan Poe, James Fenimore Cooper. 1846
Carl Zeiss opens optical instrument factory in Germany. First Known photograph, a daguerreotype, is taken of The White House and President (Polk) and First Lady by John Plumbe, Jr. 1847
Louis Desire Blanquart-Evrard modifies and improves on Talbot's calotype process. He begins a photographic printing business in Lille, France. Niepce de St.-Victor proposes using glass plates coated with albumen and silver halides as negatives. Photographic Club founded in London 1849
Mathew Brady issues the Gallery of Illustrious Americans. Maxime Du Camp travels to Egypt to photograph monuments. David Brewster invents a stereoscopic viewer. Gustave LeGray introduces waxed-paper negative process in France. Stereophotography, which uses a double lens camera to produce two views that together produce a three- dimensional view, is developed.
Top 1850
Frederick Scott Archer, a British sculptor, invents a method for coating glass plates with collodion and silver salts. This introduces the wet-plate process. L. D. Blanquart-Evrard introduces photographic prints on paper coated with albumen. Mathew Brady publishes a collection entitled A Gallery of Illustrious Americans. 1851
Talbot makes first photographs using an electric spark as the illumination. In London, The Great Exhibition exhibits photographs for the first time. Frederick Scott Archer publishes wet-collodion process. Societe Heliographique founded in Paris "Missions heliographiques" project started by the French Government. They commission photographers to record France’s ancient architectural monuments. 1852
Talbot patents the prototype for photoengraving. Bausch and Lomb Optical Company is founded in Rochester, New York. In London, The Society of Arts has an exhibition of 779 photographs. 1853
Photographic Society of London founded. They publish the first issue of the Journal of the Photographic Society. 1854
Stereoscopic images become a popular item for publication. The Ambrotype, a Collodion positive image, is introduced in the United States. Andre Adolphe Eugene Disderi patents the small format carte-de-visite, produced by making multiple exposures on a single negative plate. Roger Fenton, James Robertson, and and Carol Popp de Szathmari photograph events in the Crimean War. Societe Francaise de Photographie founded in Paris. George Eastman born July 12, 1854, in Marshall, NY. He grew up in the family home which was in Waterville, NY (outside of Utica, NY). The old Eastman homestead has since been moved to the Genesee Country Museum in Mumford, NY.
Top 1855
Alphonse Poitevin, a French chemist, discovers two methods for printing with potassium bichromate. These methods develop into photolithography and carbon printing. Ferrotype process (tintypes) is introduced to US. 1856
Thomson takes the first underwater photograph at a depth of 5 feet. Photojournalism of Crimean War documented by Roger Fenton, James Robertson, and Carol Popp de Scathmari. 1857
Felice Beato and James Robertson begin photographing the Indian Mutinies. Beato photographs conflicts in China and Japan. Francis Firth begins photographing in Egypt and opens a publishing house. He produces Egypt, Sinai, and Jerusalem. In Britain, photographer Oscar Rejlander creates allegorical multiphoto compositions. 1858
At the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition, Oscar Gustav Rejlander exhibits The Two Ways of Life, a combination print made by assembling images from several negatives onto one print. Henry Peach Robinson's photograph Fading Away, establishes him as a chronicler of the Victorian scene with multiple negative compositions of a life near its end. Robinson exhibits The Dying Girl. Francis Frith photographs scenes from Upper Egypt and Ethiopia. 1859
Stereoscopic views capture instantaneous motion in street scenes. Thomas Sutton panoramic camera is patented. First known photograph of Yosemite Falls taken by Charles Leander Weed.
Top 1860
Abraham Lincoln is photographed during his first presidential campaign by Mathew Brady. Gaspard F. Tournachon (Nadar) photographs Paris from a balloon. 1860's Julia Margaret Cameron is known for her lyrical portraits of Victorian men and women. 1861
Gaspard Felix Tournachon (Nadar) makes the first photographs underground using Bunsen batteries to produce artificial illumination. Mathew Brady begins photographic documentation of the United States Civil War. Other photographers follow, including: George Barbard, Alexander Gardner, Andrew Russell, and Timothy O'Sullivan. James Clerk Maxwell creates a color image by combining the projection of three lantern slides through three different color filters. Francois Willeme opens a photo sculpture studio in Paris. Oliver Wendell Holmes invents popular stereoscope viewer. Chambre Automatique de Bertsch; first sub-miniature camera.
Top 1861-65
Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, and others document the Civil War 1862
Louis Ducos Du Hauron describes methods for producing photographic images in color. The Photographic Society of Philadelphia is founded. 1863
In England, Julia Margaret Cameron begins photographing family members and friends in the style of the Pre-Raphaelites. The Sharpshooter by Alexander Gardner (taken after the Battle of Gettysburg). 1864
In Vienna, the first issue of Photografische Korrespondenz is produced. Joseph Wilson Swan receives patent for the Carbon Process. Julia Margaret Cameron begins to photograph soft and impressionistic portraits that challenge the accepted ideas of focus. 1865
The Era of western photography begins in the United States. From 1865 to 1880, photographers work for U.S. Geology Survey, railway companies, and other photographic firms. These photographers included: O'Sullivan, Russell, William Henry Jackson, Eadweard Muybridge, and Carleton Watkins. Dubroni-In-Camera processing. The plates were sensitized, developed, and fixed within the camera inside a glass bottle that was part of the camera body.
Top 1864
Walter Bentley Woodbury invents the Woodburytype. Patents in England. Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War documents the American Civil War. 1866
Carleton Watkins photographs Yosemite Valley. 1868
Thomas Annan begins documenting the slum areas of Glasgow. George Eastman leaves school to help support the family. He works for an insurance company as a messenger boy earning $3 a week. 1869
Louis Ducos du Hauron and Charles Cros publish Colors in Photography Henry Peach Robinson publishes Pictorial Effect in Photography. The goal of the book is to teach esthetic concepts to photographers. George Eastman starts work for another insurance company with additional responsibilities, earning $5 a week. A Golden Spike for the Transcontinental Railway by Andrew J. Russell.
Top 1870's
Pioneering landscape photography of the American West by Timothy O'Sullivan. Other notable landscape photographers include William Henry Jackson and Carleton Watkins. 1870 - 1871
William Henry Jackson photographs Yellowstone. Richard Leach Maddox announces the Dry-plate silver bromide process. The process is not perfected until 1878. 1872 John W. Hyatt begins manufacturing celluloid.
Muybridge begins photographic motion studies and continues project until 1887. The first photographs are of a horse in motion. The images were projected through a zoopraxiscope to create the illusion of movement. The commercial production of celluloid begins in the United States. 1873
Hermann Wilhelm Vogel increases the spectral sensitivity of photographic emulsions by adding dyes. The platinotype process is patented by Willis in England. Thomas produces Illustrations of China and its People. First photo is reproduced by the halftone method. 1874
George Eastman is hired as a junior clerk at Rochester Savings Bank, earning more than $15 a week. Léon Vidal combines chromolithography with Woodburytype printing. 1875
Cameron produces Idylls of the King and other Poems, which is illustrated with albumen prints. Émile Reynaud invents the Praxinoscope.
Top 1877
Eadweard Muybridge experiments with multiple cameras to take successive photographs of horses in motion. He continued his photographic studies of motion, including human movements, from 1884-1887 at the University of Pennsylvania. 1877-78
George Eastman begins to take an interest in photography and takes lessons from George Monroe, a local photographer, for $5 to learn the process. He purchases his first photographic outfit for $49. 1878
Muybridge photographs Horse in Motion. Karl Klic invented the most precise and commercially successful method of photogravure printing. George Eastman begins to simplify the complicated wet plate process. 1879
Seed Dry Plate Company begins manufacturing of dry plates in the United States. Klic invents the Photogravure Process. George Eastman invents an emulsion-coating machine which enables the mass-production of photographic dry plates. Dennis Redmond develops the electric telescope to produce moving images.
Top 1880
The first Halftone illustration from a photograph appears in a New York newspaper. Muybridge demonstrates to an audience at the San Francisco Art Association Rooms his Zoopraxiscope, a Zoetrope adapted to project photographic images in motion. George Eastman begins to commercially manufacture dry plates. 1881
Eastman Dry Plate Company is founded. Frederick E. Ives invents trichromatic halftone plates for making reproductions in color. Eder and Pizzighelli introduce Gelatine-Silver Chloride paper. 1882
George Eastman begins experimenting with different emulsion support bases other than glass. With William Walker, a research person at Eastman's company, they devise a roll film holder, a flexible film and a machine to produce the film. The film is layered with gelatin emulsions on paper backing, which is stripped away after development. 1883
George Eastman produces flexible negative film and the Kodak camera. The first small cameras are introduced using dry plate or roll film. A separation begins between making exposures and processing the film and prints. The advent of these commercial processing services help to increase public interest in photography. 1884
First issue of British based publication Amateur Photographer. Ottomar Anschutz's Stork's in Flight captures multiple images. Professor E. Stebbing Automatic Camera is the first production camera to use roll film.
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1885
EASTMAN American Film is introduced as the first transparent film negative. 1886
Frederick E. Ives develops halftone engraving process that makes it possible to reproduce photographic images in the same operation as printing text. 1887
New York Camera Club founded. Thomas Alva Edison commissions W. K. L. Dickson to invent a motion picture camera. 1888
Charles Driffield and Ferdinand Hurter begin working on methods for measuring image brightness, exposure, and emulsion sensitivity. They publish a work on sensitomerty in 1890. The first camera images of New York slums by Jacob Riis appear in the New York Sun. He publishes a book, How the Other Half Lives in 1890. The name Kodak is born and the KODAK Camera is placed on the market. It is loaded with 100 exposures on a film roll for $25. It is simply operated: Pull the string to cock the shutter, press the button to expose the film, and turn the key to advance the film. The advertising slogan is: "You press the button and we do the rest". After all the film is exposed, the camera and the film are sent back to the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co. in Rochester for developing. The Kodak camera-fixed focus, 57mm lens, f/9, sharp from 3 1/2 ft. to infinity. First motion picture films are made on sensitized paper rolls taken with a camera by Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince.
Top 1889
Peter Henry Emerson publishes the book Naturalistic Photography. The book attempts to counteract the artificiality of Robinson's work regarding photography and esthetics. Later in 1890, he retracts the idea that photography can be an art. Kodak #2 is introduced. The first successful anastigmatic lens is created, a Protar f 7.5. Hannibal Goodwin develops celluloid varnish to keep film from curling. George Eastman applies for patent on transparent roll film. The first commercial transparent roll film, perfected by Eastman and his research chemist, is put on the market. The availability of this flexible film makes possible the development of Thomas Edison's motion picture camera in 1891. A new corporation, The Eastman Company is formed, taking over the assets of the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company. 1890
Art movements in photography begin throughout Europe and the United States. This movement continues through 1910 and results in the creation of several pictorialist organizations such as: The Linked Ring, The Photo-Club de Paris, the Kleeblatt, and the Photo-Secession. Photographs begin to supplant hand-drawn illustrations in leading periodicals. California Camera Club founded in San Francisco. 1891
Lippmann develops Interference Process of color photography. The first telephoto lenses begin to appear. 1892 Walter E. Woodbury emigrates to the US in 1892...later on writing four books on photography, among them Photographic Amusements (1896)and The Complete Encyclopedia of Photography (1898). Per his great grandson M. M. of Chilliwack, BC, Canada 1893
The first issue of American Amateur Photographer is published. 1894
Photo Club de Paris founded. “Premiere exposition d’art photographique” exhibit opens in Paris. 1895
Lumiere brothers demonstrate a cinema projector capable of showing 16 frames per second.
Top 1897
Halftones begin being printed in newspapers on power press using screen techniques devised by Frederick Ives and Stephen Horgan. First issue of Camera Notes is published. It is edited by Stieglitz. 1898
Stieglitz produces Picturesque Bits of New York and Other Studies. Eugene Atget begins his photographic career in Paris. Jimmy Hare photographs Spanish-American War in Cuba. 1900
The first successful American feature film debuts: The Great Train Robbery. In London, The Royal Photographic Society shows exhibition called The New School of American Photography. The exhibition appears in Paris in 1901. 1903
Camera Work, an art photography journal is founded in the United States. Stieglitz is the editor until 1917. National Geographic magazine establishes there policy to portray people in their natural attire, or lack of it. They publish their first photograph with exposed female breasts. 1904
Lewis Hine begins his career as a social photographer in New York City. The Lumiere brothers announce the production of Autochrome plates for making camera images in full color.
Top 1905
Stieglitz opens The Little Galleries of the Photo Secession at 291 Fifth Avenue in New York City. The gallery is often referred to simply as “291”. 1906
Off-set lithography invented. 1907
Edward S. Curtis begins publication of a 20-volume work: The North American Indian. Stieglitz photographs The Steerage. 1910
The Albright Art Gallery shows the International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography. 1911
In Italy, The Bragaglia brothers begin experiments in photodynamism. Arnold Genthe produces the first known autochromes (color photographs) of a rainbow and a sunset. 1914
De Meyer illustrates the Ballets Russes in Sur le Prelude a l’Apres-midi d’un Faune. Clarence White School of Photography opens in New York. Charles Chaplin, D.W. Griffiths, and Mack Sennett become active in the United States film industry. 1915
Modernist ideas supplant soft-focus pictorialism in the United States. Key photographers include: Alvin Langdon Coburn, Charles Sheeler, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, and Paul Strand.
Top 1916
Gallery 291 exhibits photographs of Paul Strand. 1917
Camera Work ceases publication. 1918
Photographers, Man Ray in Paris and Christian Schad in Germany, begin producing cameraless images with the manipulation of light and chemicals. 1919
H.F. Farmer develops Three-colour Carbo Process. 1920
Photographers begin to experiment with photocollage and photomontage as an escape from the literalness of typical photographic processes. The Constructivist and Bauhaus movements begin and thrive until 1998. Photographers such as Lazslo Moholy-Nagy and Alexander Rodchenko introduce new ways of recording actuality by stressing unusual angles and close-ups. 1921
The first issue of Camera is published. Man Ray creates Rayographs. 1923
First wirephoto transmission. Steichen is appointed as Conde Nast’s chief photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair magazines. 1924
Introduction of small-plate Ermanox and Leica 35mm cameras make instantaneous photography possible in available light. Leopold Godowsky and Leopold Mannes patent two-color photographic film. 1925
Flash bulb invented. Moholy-Nagy produces Maleri, Fotografie, Film. Imogen Cunningham photographs Magnolia Blossom.
Top 1926
Brancusi's Bird in Space is deemed a work of art by the United States Court, establishing the status of Modern Art. The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art begins it photography collection. 1927
The Jazz Singer is the first successful full-length talking feature film. 1928
The Eastman Kodak Company produces color film for 16mm movie cameras. Rolleiflex introduced. First issue of Vu published in Paris. 1929
The Museum of Modern Art opens. Stieglitz opens a gallery called An American Place. Film and Foto exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany.
Top 1930
Gaspar bleached-color process is announced. The Russian Association of Proletarian Photographers is formed. 1932
Photoelectric-cell light meter is introduced. The f64 group is founded in San Francisco by Adams, Cunningham, Van Dyke, Weston, and others. The goal is to promote “straight” photography. 1933
Brassai produces Paris de Nuit. Die Kamera, a photographic fair in Berlin 1934
The first issue of Lilliput is published in London. Cartier-Bresson photographs Enfants jouant dans les ruines. 1935
Kodachrome movie film is introduced. Eastman Kodak wash-off relief process and dye transfer systems also announced. Farm Security Administration documentary project begin in the United States. It’s goal is to document the effects of the depression in rural areas of the U.S. It continues until 1942.
Top 1936
The Photo League is founded in New York City. It's formation is based on the belief in the photograph as a social document. Members include: Berenice Abbott, Lewis Hine, Lisette Model, Aaron Siskind, and Paul Strand. Kodachrome color transparency film introduced in 35mm cartridges and roll film. First issue of Life produced. Dorothea Lange photographs Migrant Mother. Robert Capa photographs Moment of Death in Spain. 1937
The Museum of Modern Art in New York open exhibition called “Photography 1839-1937”. The show is currated by Beaumont Newhall. Molholy-Nagy establishes the New Bauhaus at the Chicago Institute of Design. Museum of the City of New York launches Berenice Abbott exhibition, “Changing New York”. Margaret Bourke-White photographs You Have Seen Their Faces. 1938
The first issue of Match is published in Paris. The first issue of Picture Post is published in London. Walker Evans produces American Photographs. 1939
The stroboscopic flash system is invented.
Top 1940
Agfa, Ansco, and Sakura Natural color films are introduced. Kodak Kodachrome films and papers are also introduced. Harold Edgerton develops a technique to use high-speed electric flash to stop action. The Museum of Modern Art opens a Department of Photography. Strand produces Photographs of Mexico. 1941
Agee and Evans produce Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. 1944
Kodacolor negative film is introduced by the Eastman Kodak Company. Eugene Smith joins Life magazine. 1945
Brooks Institute of Photography is founded by Ernest H. Brooks, Sr. Weegee produces Naked City. The Museum of Modern Art exhibits “Paul Strand: Photographs 1915-1945” Lecuyer produces Histoire de la Photographie.
Top 1946
Ektachrome f color film is introduced in sheet form. It was processable by the photographer. Museum of Modern Art exhibits Cartier-Bresson retrospective. Popular Photography first published. W. Eugene Smith photographs The Walk to Paradise Garden. 1947
The principles of holography are described by Dr. Gabor. The Polaroid Land camera is invented by Edwin Land. It produces a sepia colored print in 60 seconds. The Magnum Agency is founded in Paris. 1948
The 35mm Nikon camera is introduced in Japan. Adams publishes his Zone System for tonal control through special exposure and development techniques. He also produces Portfolio 1. 1949
Newhall publishes The History of Photography from 1839 to the Present Day. The International Museum of Photography is opened at the George Eastman House in New York. 1950
Weston produces My Camera on Point Lobos. The first Photokina in Cologne.
Top 1951
Brandt produces Literary Britain. Lieberman produces The Art and Technique of Color Photography. The Museum of Modern Art exhibits “Five French Photographers: Brassi, Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau, Izis, and Ronis”. 1952
Cartier-Bresson produces Images a la Sauvette (The Decisive Moment). The first issue of Aperture is published in New York. 1953
The Art Institute of Chicago features “Gordon Parks” exhibition. 1954
High speed Tri-X film is introduced by the Eastman Kodak Company. 1955
The Museum of Modern Art features the “Family of Man” exhibition. Gernsheim produces The History of Photography. Andreas Feininger photographs The Photojournalist.
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1957
The Museum of Modern Art features “Brassi: Graffiti” exhibition. 1958
Frank produces Les Americains. The International Museum of Photography features a Harry Callahan retrospective. 1959
The Nikon f 35mm single-lens reflex camera is introduced in Japan. 1960
The introduction of laser light enables the transmission of holographic images. Polaroid introduces high speed film. Penn produces Moments Preserved. The photo clubs of Belgium, Britain, France, and Switzerland organize the first Photeurop Exhibition. 1961
Kodachrome II color film is introduced by the Eastman Kodak Company. The Museum of Modern Art features “Photographs by Irving Penn” exhibition. Bill Brandt photographs Perspective of Nudes. 1962
Polacolor film for one-step photography is introduced. Color prints are produced in 60 seconds. The Society for Photographic Education is founded in the U.S. John Szarkowsky becomes the Curator of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art.
Top 1963
The Eastman Kodak Company introduces Instamatic cameras and higher speed color film. 1964
The Cibachrome process for color prints from transparencies is introduced. The Museum of Modern Art features “The Photographer’s Eye” exhibition. 1965
The Nikkormat camera is announced in Japan. 1966
The International Center of Photography is established in New York. 1967
The Friends of Photography is founded by Adams, the Newhalls, and others in Carmel, California. The group produces a series of publications, workshops, and exhibitions. The Museum of Modern Art shows a group exhibition by Arbus, Friedlander, and Winogrand titled “New Documents”. The Gamma Agency opens in Paris. Jerry Uelsmann receives Guggenheim Fellowship and has solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. First color photography of the Earth taken by the satellite ATS III.
Top 1969
The first issue of Creative Camera is published in London. Minor White produces Mirrors, Messages, Manifestations. 1970
Rencontres Internationales de la Photgraphie is founded. It is an annual summer festival of photography and workshops in Arles, France. The Image Bank Agency opens in Paris. Duane Michals photographs Sequences. Ralph Gibson photographs The Somnambulist. 1971
Several major photography galleries open, including Bibliotheque Nathionale in Paris, Photographers’ Gallery in London, and the Witkin Gallery in New York. The Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibits a Paul Strand retrospective. 1972
The Polaroid SX-70 system is introduced. The Museum of Modern Art features a Diane Arbus retrospective. 1973
Sygma Agency opens in Paris and New York. 1974
Cornell Capa is names Director of the International Center of Photography in New York.
Top 1975
The George Eastman House shows “New Topographics” exhibition. The Fox Talbot Museum opens in Wiltshire, Great Britain. The Center for Creative Photography is established at the University of Arizona. The San Francisco Museum of Art presents “Women of Photography” exhibition. 1976
Contact Press Images Agency opens in New York. The National Endowment for the Arts is formed. 1977
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art features Uelsmann exhibition. 1978
The Fondation Nationale de la Photographie is formed in Lyon, France. The San Francisco Museum of Art features “Robert Heineken” exhibition. The Museum of Modern Art features “Mirrors and Windows: American Photography since 1960” exhibition. 1979
The Hayward Gallery in London hosts exhibition titled “Three Perspectives on Photography” which viewed photography from the fine art, socialist, and feminist perspectives. The International Center of Photography features Philppe Halsman retrospective. The Metropolitan Museum of Art features “Eliot Porter: Intimate Landscapes” exhibition. The Musee d’Art Moderne in Paris features “Robert Doisneau: Les passants qui passent” exhibition.
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1980
The Lisson Gallery in London features “Andy Warhol: Photos” exhibition. 1982
Sony Electronics in Japan introduces the electronic still digital camera. The Dart Gallery in Chicago feature a William Wegman exhibition. 1983
The National Museum of Photography Film and Television opens in Bradford, Great Britain. Ralph Gibson “Syntax” exhibition travels across the United States. 1984
“The Golden Age of British Photography” exhibition opens at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. 1986
A world conference establishes standards for sound, video, and digital recordings agreed to by manufacturers of all electronic still photography (ESP) and still video (SV) equipment. 1987
“Photography and Art: Interactions since 1946” exhibition opens at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Kodak enters the electronic still-video market with seven products for recording, storing, manipulating, transmitting and printing electronic still video images. 1988
High Band electronic still camera with greater resolution introduced. Extensive use of ESP equipment leads to new field of electronic imaging management concerned with storage, retrieval, and processing of images in digital or video form. 1989
One Hundred and Fifty years of photography is celebrated. Numerous books, including Photography Until Now and On the Art of Fixing a Shadow are published in connection with the event.
Top 1990
Kodak announced the development of its Photo CD system and a proposed worldwide standard for defining color in the digital environment of computers and computer peripherals. Jo Ann Callis receives Guggenheim fellowship. 1991
The KODAK Professional Digital Camera System (DCS) was introduced,
enabling photojournalists to take electronic pictures with a Nikon F-3 camera equipped by Kodak with a 1.3 megapixel sensor. 1992
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) release Mosaic, the first browser enabling users to view photographs over the Internet. 1993 National Women in Photography Conference is held for the first time. 1994
The Museum of Modern Art features “American Politicians: Photographs from 1843 to 1993” exhibition. 1995
Kodak introduces its Home Page on the World Wide Web of the Internet.
Top 1996
Nikon F5 camera is introduced. Kodak demonstrates their new FLASHPIX technology at the COMDEX trade show. Developed collaboratively by Kodak, Hewlett-Packard Company, Live Picture Inc., and Microsoft Crop., it incorporates many features from existing image formats and adds new capabilities. The Museum of Modern Art features “Pictures of the Times: A Century of Photography from The New York Times” exhibition. The Yosemite Museum, in Yosemite National Park features Jerry Uelsmann exhibition. The Photography Network is founded in San Francisco, California. 1997
Nikon introduces the E2Ns, a professional-level digital SLR camera. The Museum of Modern Art features a Manuel Alvarez Bravo retrospective with 185 photographs on exhibit, spanning the photographer’s entire career.
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