When we look at the past, we get a fascinating look at where we came from, how our thoughts and ways of doing things have evolved, and the mistakes that have been made so that we aren’t doomed to repeat them.

Photography is such an integral part of our lives today – easily accessed in the palm of our hands. The oldest known photograph dates back to the early 1800’s, but the first camera or, at least, the idea of the camera, was first mentioned in the ancient times by philosophers Mozi, Aristotle and Alhazen. The pinhole camera or camera obscura was a box with a hole in it where light passes through and produces an (upside down) image inside its wall.

COOPH_history_of_photography

In the 5-minute video below, COOPH shows how photography developed through history. “The History of Photography” highlights some of the major milestones that brought us from Aristotle and the Camera Obscura to the Pre-Teens and taking selfies on a smartphone. Using multimedia – animation and old photographs – the video is a fun watch and something that would be great to show this generation not only how far photography has come but the tedium of photography of the past (like in the 1850’s where exposure times were about 3 minutes long, and your subject had to “use neck braces and drugs to keep still.”)

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[Related: The Evolution of Photography]