Famous Photographer #1: Nicéphore Niépce

Nicéphore Niépce is a French photographer. He is known as one of the inventors of photography. In 1822 he took the world's first photogravure etching of Pope Pius VII. Unfortunately, when he tried to duplicate it the original was destroyed. The first surviving etchings were of a man with a horse and of a woman with a spinning wheel. In 1825 Nicéphore Niépce's first photograph was created. He used a process called heliography. In 1829 he collaborated with Louis Daguerre and they developed the physcautotype. That is a photographic process that uses lavender oil. Aside from improving the photography process, Niépce created the Pyréolophore. It was the world's first internal combustion engine. He invented it with his brother. Nicéphore Niépce paved the way for photography.