Major Milestones in the History of Photography

This year, we celebrate the 184th birthday of photography, and in those nearly two centuries, we have seen some remarkable accomplishments and advancements. This fantastic video essay takes a look at the craft we all love and some of the most important milestones in its history. 

Coming to you from Peter Forsgård, this fantastic video essay takes a look at the history of photography, starting with the introduction of the daguerreotype process on August, 19, 1839. If I had to pick one of the most important milestones, it would probably be the introduction of the Kodak Brownie in 1900. Before the Brownie, amateur photography was out of reach for most people, both in terms of cost and technique. The Brownie largely eliminated both these issues, with extremely simply controls and a price of $1 (plus the price of film and processing). In turn, this had a major effect in bringing photography to the masses and making it less of a special, once-in-a-while thing and more of a part of normal life. We take it for granted nowadays with smartphones and high-quality consumer equipment, but there was a time when photography was not so ubiquitous. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Forsgård.