Today is World Photography Day! Next month marks the 200th anniversary of the first successful photograph – when an image formed by light was ‘fixed’.
To celebrate this remarkable and now ubiquitous technology, the Museum will present a new exhibition exploring the development of photography over the past two centuries, from Daguerreotypes to Digits.
Photography has become an integral part of everyday life, documenting everything from cataclysmic world events to treasured family moments and providing a visual link to both our distant and recent past.
The photograph shown here was taken by French inventor Nicéphore Niépce around 1826–27. Known as View from the Window at Le Gras, it required many hours of exposure. Today, a photograph can be captured and shared instantly from a phone!
Stay tuned for more details about our new exhibition, opening in September 2026!