Two hundred years of the camera

Two hundred years of the camera have passed, and although we all enjoy its priceless benefits, how many of us actually know this?

In 2012 I bought a DSLR camera. Of course, long before that, around 2000, I had a film autofocus point‑and‑shoot camera. After digital cameras arrived and especially around 2010, not having a DSLR was almost like being a bit behind. This photo that one of my group tour mates took in 2016 on the way from Shimla to Manali, was taken with their camera.

For those of you who don’t know, back in the days before digital cameras, you had to buy a film for 100 taka. That film then had to be kept in the dark and developed in a lab, after which you would get the photos. Every single click had a lot of value. Anyway, the camera is a very old invention. After posting some color photos of Dhaka and Bangladesh from around 1952 on Facebook, many people simply refused to believe that there were color cameras at that time! When I posted those photos on my previous Facebook account around 2013, there was no system yet to colorize black‑and‑white photos using AI.

The history of cameras and photography is not just the evolution of a machine; it is a thrilling story of human longing to trap memories within a frame. Once upon a time, you had to think about your wallet before taking each photo, and stare toward the darkness of the lab waiting for the result—today that place has been taken over by smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI). That autofocus film camera you left behind, your first DSLR from 2012, and the golden memories of your 2016 Shimla‑Manali trip are actually beautiful chapters in this long journey of photography.

From the birth of the camera to the digital revolution and the advent of color technology—the entire history of this evolution is truly astonishing.

History of camera invention and early development

The core foundation or concept of the camera actually began several hundred years ago. Its first form was the ‘Camera Obscura’, which in Latin is known as ‘dark room’. Greek and Muslim scientist of optics Ibn al‑Haytham (Alhazen) first gave a scientific explanation of light and pinhole‑based inverted images. At that time it did not capture any permanent image; rather, it created a projection of the outside scene on the wall of a room, which artists would then use as a reference to draw pictures.

The first success in permanently trapping light to take a picture came at the beginning of the 19th century.

• 1826 (first permanent photograph): French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce captured the world’s first permanent photograph. He used a metal plate coated with a bitumen‑based substance (Bitumen of Judea). It took a continuous 8‑hour exposure to capture that image!
• 1839 (the daguerreotype era): Louis Daguerre invented the ‘Daguerreotype’ process. Using silver‑plated copper sheets, it became possible to take clear and permanent photographs in comparatively less time. This year 1839 is considered the birth year of commercial photography.
• 1888 (beginning of portable photography): George Eastman brought photography into the hands of ordinary people. He founded the ‘Eastman Kodak’ company and introduced roll‑film‑based box cameras to the market. Its slogan was: “You press the button, we do the rest.”

The journey from black‑and‑white to color photographs

From the very beginning of photography, people dreamed of capturing the true appearance of the world—that is, its colors—within a frame. However, due to technological limitations, for more than a century black‑and‑white (monochrome) images remained the primary medium.

a. The era of black‑and‑white photographs

Black‑and‑white photographs used silver halide chemicals. When light fell on this chemical, it triggered a chemical reaction that produced black, gray, and white shades according to the intensity of the light. From the 19th century to the mid‑20th century, all major historical events, wars, and stories of human life were documented in these black‑and‑white frames.

b. The revolution of color photography

Many people think that color cameras were perhaps invented toward the end of the 20th century. But in reality, the technology for color photographs had been experimentally in use much earlier.

• 1861 (first color photograph): Physicist James Clerk Maxwell used red, green, and blue (RGB) filters to present the concept and projection of the world’s first color photograph.
• 1907 (Autochrome – first commercial color process): Two French brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumière, introduced ‘Autochrome Lumière’ to the market. It worked using dyed starch made from potatoes.
• 1935–36 (Kodachrome and Agfacolor): The true beginning of modern color film came with Kodak’s ‘Kodachrome’ in 1935 and Germany’s ‘Agfacolor’ in 1936.

Context: Color photographs of Dhaka and Bangladesh in the 1950s

One of the main reasons many people find it unbelievable to see color photographs of Dhaka or then‑East Pakistan from 1952 is that color cameras were not easily accessible to ordinary people at that time. But commercial production of color film had already begun in the 1930s and 40s. In those days, foreign journalists, ambassadors, travelers, or extremely influential wealthy elite families of Dhaka could take color photographs using Kodachrome film. The durability and color saturation of Kodachrome were so perfect that even after 70–80 years those photos look as vivid as if they were taken yesterday! Many people working at the then ICDDR,B, as well as many hobbyist photographers, captured those images with their cameras. I had previously shared those archive links on my Facebook around 2013. Today, after searching thoroughly, I have found many other color photographs from that era in archives in America and Britain, but I still haven’t found the specific ones I was looking for. If I find them, I will add them.

The reign of famous film companies

Before the advent of digital cameras, the world of photography was ruled by a few traditional chemical and film manufacturing companies. In that era, the camera itself was just a piece of metal and glass; the real magic was hidden inside the packet of the film roll.