World Photography Day is annually observed on 19th August across the globe to celebrate the art, craft, science, and history of photography. The day also promotes communication between people from different cultures and countries, helping to enrich a sense of global community.
- World Photography Day commemorates the announcement of the Daguerreotype process of photography by the French government as a ‘free gift to the world’.
The 2023 Theme of World Photography Day is “Landscapes“.
This day also represents the significant contribution of skilled photographers and encourages and inspires the next generation of photographers.
World Photography Week:
It was introduced in 2022. It is a 2-week worldwide celebration of Photography, beginning a week before World Photography Day, on 12th August, and running a week after, through 26th August.
On each day of World Photography Week, interested individuals can share a photo on their favourite social media platforms, using the hashtag: #WorldPhotographyWeek.
Background:
i.In 1837, the first ever photographic process, the ‘Daguerreotype’ was developed by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, a French artist and photographer.
- He was the business partner of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a French inventor, whose heliography method is the forebear of the photographic process.
ii.The French Academy of Sciences officially announced the invention of the daguerreotype in 1839 to the public.
iii.On August 19, 1839, the government of France purchased the patent for the invention and gave it as a gift, “free to the world.” Later on, the day began to be marked as World Photography Day annually.
iv.The first official World Photography Day was observed on 19th August 2010. It was on this date that nearly 270 photographers shared their pictures in a global online gallery.
Daguerreotype Process:
i.The daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image recorded on a copper plate coated with silver iodide without the use of a negative.
ii.Latent images produced in-camera were developed by exposure to mercury vapor and were then fixed with a strong salt solution.
iii.It became the first technique for making a camera image permanent.
Key Facts:
i.The first durable colour photograph was taken in the year 1861.
ii.The first digital photograph was taken in 1957 by Russell Kirsch, an American Computer Scientist,
- The photo was a digital scan of a shot initially taken on film.
iii.The first actual digital still camera was developed by Eastman Kodak engineer Steven Sasson in 1975.
