World’s First Camera On Display in Beijing

Posted byChris Malinao

first wooden camera used by Frenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce

This is the world’s first camera, the very one used by Frenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce to produce the first permanent photograph in 1827.

It’s on display right now in Beijing, China’s Capital Museum, where a month-long exhibition presenting the history of photography is underway.

The primitive camera is a sliding wooden box design which Niepce used with a bitumen-coated pewter plate to capture an image.

“Naissance de la photographie : une invention française” (Birth of Photography : A French Invention) runs up to May 12, 2007. It is showcasing 117 items from the French inventor and photography belonging to the Niepce Museum.

[Via: Spluch]

Published by Chris Malinao

Chris teaches Lightroom as workflow software to photography students at the FPPF, Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation. He also teaches smartphone photography.