August 19 is celebrated as International Photography Day; a day that inspires photographers around the world to share one photo with a simple goal: to share their photography with the rest of the world. Today, on the International Day of Photography, we will tell you more about this day and the history of photography!
The origin of the International Day of Photography
It's no coincidence that International Photography Day falls on August 19, there's a reason behind it. We owe this day to Louis Daguerre, the inventor of the Daguerrotype; a photographic method from 1837.
The Daguerrotype uses a polished, silver-plated copper plate. With iodine vapours, the plate is made light-sensitive, exposed (also known as making the photo) and exposed to mercury vapours. In this way, mirror images are created. This image is then fixed in saline and rinsed with water.
Because the development costs of the Daguerrotype were quite high, Daguerre decided on August 19, 1839 to sell the patent to the French government and announced the invention as a gift, "free to the world". Since then, Daguerre has been regarded as the inventor of photography.
On August 19, 2010, International Photography Day hosted its first global online gallery. Nearly 270 photographers shared their photography and people from over 100 countries visited the website. This was the first official International Day of Photography , celebrated worldwide .
Also interesting for you: For lovers of photographic art 
The History of Photography
The very first
The Daguerreotype was not the first permanent photographic image, Daguerre actually had a predecessor! It is therefore not entirely fair that we owe the International Day of Photography to Daguerre. In 1826, Niepce took the earliest known permanent photograph, known as "View from the Window at Le Gras", from his window in the French region of Burgundy. Niepce was able to achieve this using a process called heliography: a special liquid is smeared on a glass or metal plate, which hardens proportionally according to the amount of light.
The first color photo
The first color photograph was taken by Thomas Sutton in 1861. It was a set of three black and white photographs taken through red, green, and blue filters. However, the photographic emulsions used at the time were insensitive to the spectrum, so the result was very imperfect and the demonstration was quickly forgotten by the public.
The first selfie
In 2013, the Oxford Dictionaries announced their word of the year as 'selfie': a photo someone has taken of themselves. It seems like a very recent phenomenon, but nothing could be further from the truth! The first selfie was taken in 1839 by Robert Cornelius, a photography enthusiast from Philadelphia. Cornelius set his camera in the back of the family store in Philadelphia and took the photo by removing the lens cap and then running into the frame, where he sat for a minute before covering the lens again. On the back of the image he wrote: "The first light photograph ever taken. 1839."
You May Also Like: Our Motorsport Photography Collection!
Photography for your home
Do you want to bring some photography into your home in honor of the International Day of Photography ? Which can! At Walljar you can shop the most beautiful photography posters, canvas and plexiglass. For example, take a look at our photography collection for black and white photos, the Morocco collection for beautiful, warm photos from Morocco or the vintage football collection for unique football photos.
Discover more art?
Want to discover more art besides photography ? View our entire range here or get inspired !