Discovered in 2002, this is the world’s very first photograph ever taken, capturing the image of an engraving of a man walking a horse. The technique used for this photograph is known as heliogravure, involving a piece of copper covered with light sensitive bitumen. This metal plate is then exposed to light, creating an image that is transferred to paper. The author Nicéphore Niépce’s work is now considered a national treasure by the French government and was sold to the French National Library for $392,000.

Also taken by Nicéphore Niépce, who took the first photograph ever, the “View from the Window at Le Gras” captured a real scene. The device used was a camera obscura and took 8 hours to expose.

This is the first photograph that captured the image of a man, although the image is not clear, due to the long exposure required. The photograph was taken by Louis Daguerre, inventor of the Daguerreotype, a predecessor of photography.

The very first photograph that intentionally captured a human as its main subject. The photograph was taken by William Henry Fox Talbot who invented the negative/positive photographic process.

Capturing a tartan ribbon, this is the first actual color photograph taken by James Clerk Maxwell. The shot was taken three times – each time using a different color filter over the lens and then projected onto a screen using three projectors, aligning the three images. The original plates are preserved in Edinburgh, Maxwell’s birthplace.

The “Landscape of Southern France” photograph was taken by Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron, inventor of the subtractive color method (cyan, magenta and yellow), who also worked with the additive technique (red, green and blue) to create color photography.

The first high speed series was created by Eadweard Muybridge using a series of trip wires to obtain the effect of motion pictures. He also invented the zoopraxiscope, a device that preceded the modern motion picture projector.

The Roundhay garden Scene is the first short motion picture or film directed by the French inventor Louis Le Prince. It was recorded at 12 frames per second and only lasts for 2.11 seconds, having however enough time to present the characters walking.

Kodak is the one to invent the 35 mm film that has been used to this day.

A computer pioneer at the National institute of Standards and Technology, Russell Kirsch, was the one who developed the digital system by which a camera could be connected to a computer. The first digital photo shows Kirsch’s three-month-old son and measured only 176*176 pixels.