“View from the window in le gras”
The image would not win any prize today, but in the 1820s it was absolutely special.
Two centuries ago, a French inventor looked through the window of his house in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes and captured a decisive moment in the history of science – and also of art.
Under the intense sun of the sun that illuminated the roofs ahead, Nicéphore Niépce put a unusual ingenuity: A dark box with a tin plate covered by a light -sensitive substance. Then he just left her there.
After opening a small hole in the box and expose the plate abroad for eight hours, a slowly forming a ghostly image Give sight of yes.
For the first time, The light was clearly and permanently recorded an image on a surface. The result, “LE GRAS WINDOW VIEW“It is currently considered the First photograph that came to us.
Although Niépce was not seen as a true artist, the experiences he developed to achieve this process revealed a remarkable creativitytells the.
Coated the plate with Judea Betumea substance similar to tar that hardened when exposed to light. After the long exposure, it washed the plate with lavender oil and oil, eliminating the unhealthy areas and revealing the ethereal contours of roofs, trees and chimneys.
The discovery Born from his interest in lithographya printing technique that enjoyed great popularity in France of the early nineteenth century.
In experiencing impressions of light -sensitive varnishes, Niépce began to reflect deeply on the possibility of use light to fix visual information in its purest and most vivid state.
The original plate used to create the first photograph usual, entitled “View from the LE GRAS window” (Nicéphore Niépce, C.1820)
Niépce called the final process “heliography“, From Helios,” Sun “in Greek, and Graphy, derived from the Latin” record “or” draw. “In short, heliography was” drawing with the sun. “
It is not known for sure When Niépce captured his first image through this technique, but the feat was for the first time Revealed in 1826when he showed the result to the botanical illustrator Francis Bauer.
Deeply impressed, Bauer encouraged him to travel to London to present the process to the British scientific community.
In 1827 Niépce crossed the Mancha Channel on a trip to visit his brother, who suffered from mental illness, taking six heliographic plates with him. Intended to introduce them to the royal society, but the institution was then “practically paralyzed” by internal disputes.
The project aroused little interestto the disgust of some members, and Niépce returned to France without any recognition.
In the return, however, it began a collaboration and exchange of ideas with the French artist Louis Daguerrewhich would develop the famous “Daguerreotype process“. This, yes, managed to conquer the Royal Society in 1839, already pacified, giving rise to explosion of photography as new art and science.
Tragically, Niépce died in 1833without witnessing the proper recognition of your invention.
Daguerre and Niépce are now considered Founding Parents of Photographyalthough it has spent many decades until Niépce’s pioneering contribution was fully recognized – as so often happens to visionaries.
