Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
[One of the originators of photography, b. 1765, Chalon-sur-Saône, France, d. 1833, Gras, France.]
The discovery I have made and which I call Heliography, consists in reproducing spontaneously, by the action of light, with gradations of tints from black to white, the images received in the camera obscura.
I used some of the time while here in making a kind of artificial eye, which is nothing but a small box six inches square; the box will be equipped with a tube that can be lengthened and will carry a lenticular glass. This apparatus is necessary in order to properly complete my process.
(1814)
I must now do three things: (1) give more sharpness to the representation of the subject; (2) transpose the colors; and (3) fix them permanently, which will not be the easiest of the three.
(1816)