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Video: The history of photography in 5 minutes

Published Feb 8th, 2016 11:05PM EST
History Of Photography

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Thanks to the modern day smartphone, nearly everyone is a photographer these days. From Instagram and Facebook to Snapchat and Flickr, society today spends more time behind a camera lens and viewing photographs than at any other time in history. In fact, it’s been estimated that more than 1/3 of all the photos ever taken over the last 189 years or so were taken within the last 2 or 3 years.

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All that being said, it’s easy to take for granted how accessible and photography has become. In an impressive effort to document the journey from grainy black and white photographs to high-res DSLR photos, the YouTube account COOPH recently put together an interesting video detailing the “History of Photography in 5 Minutes.”

From the discovery of camera obscura, references of which date back centuries, to the first photographs ever taken in 1827 (by Joseph Nicephore Niepce), the video provides a broad yet informative overview of how photography (pardon the pun) developed over the course of time. One of the more interesting tidbits explains that long exposure times back in the early days of photography is why people didn’t smile much in old photos, a tradition which carried on for quite some time.

From the first color photograph to the invention of roll film and the rise of Kodak, the video does a great job of highlighting the biggest advancements in camera technology over the past many decades.

Yoni Heisler Contributing Writer

Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the tech industry at large with over 15 years of experience. A life long expert Mac user and Apple expert, his writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK, and TUAW.

When not analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys catching Improv shows in Chicago, playing soccer, and cultivating new TV show addictions.