World Photo Day 2023: Date, History, Facts about World Photo Day

The 19th of August is World Photography Day, commemorating the day the French government purchased the patent for the daguerreotype process. The daguerreotype process is a type of photography that produces extremely detailed images on copper plates coated with a thin layer of silver. Participants are required to share a photo of their world, which can be anything the photographer desires. The British scientist Sir John Herschel coined the phrase “drawing the light” as the definition of photography in 1839. He employed the Greek words phtós, which means “light”, and graphê, which means “drawing or writing”.

The background of World Photo Day

Louis Daguerre was born in Cormeilles-en-Paris, France, on November 18, 1787. His family was of the middle class, and he grew up during the French Revolution, a period of great political turmoil. Due to the poor economic policies of King Louis XVI, the revolution pitted the common people against the bourgeoisie. The impoverished desired a higher standard of living, while the ruling class desired to maintain the feudal system. These events frequently have an effect on the arts, as they inspire artists to create works that capture the era; for adolescent Daguerre, this was drawing.

In 1800, Despite having a limited formal education, Daguerre was a natural artist, and at the age of 13 he became an apprentice to an architect, where he learned the intricacies of the art and the science of designing structures through hands-on experience. This laid the groundwork for his comprehension of how objects were constructed. Four years later, Daguerre relocated to Paris to study and practise opera scene painting.

In the early 1820s, Daguerre made a significant advancement. He and his co-inventor created the diorama, which consisted of enormous, translucent paintings that were illuminated to replicate movement and other effects. Due to the expense of his invention, he fell on hard times and declared bankruptcy within a decade.

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the world’s first persistent photograph in 1825, which Daguerre incorporated into his dioramas. Niépce perished in 1833, while Daguerre continued his photographic and diorama experiments. In 1839, he patented the daguerreotype process as a “gift to the world” after combining chemicals with silver plates to create the daguerreotype process.

After this daring union, photography continued to evolve and record life’s moments. Korske Ara, a professional photographer, founded World Photo Day in 2010 to encourage people to capture meaningful photographs.

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5 INCREDIBLE FACTS ABOUT WORLD PHOTO DAY

In 1851, the first photograph of the moon was obtained.

One of Daguerre’s father’s daughters was named Marie Antoinette.

When Daguerre arrived in Paris, he was a well-known dancer and extra on the stage of the renowned Paris Opera.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert utilised a darkroom to develop photographs.

Queen Victoria first used the abbreviation “photo” in a letter written in 1860.

WORLD PHOTO DAY DATES