The First Photograph
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Viewing the First Photograph
"I was startled. I had not expected a looking glass, nor an Empire frame in which the pewter plate lay like a painting. I went to the window, held the plate at an angle to the light, as one does with daguerreotypes. No image was to be seen. Then I increased the angle—and suddenly the entire courtyard scene unfolded itself in front of my eyes. The ladies were speechless. Was I practicing black magic on them?" —Helmut Gernsheim
Helmut Gernsheim.
Drawing of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce's View from the Window at Le Gras.
February 20, 1952.
Pencil on paper.
15 x 18.7 cm.
The First Photograph—or, more correctly, the world's first permanent photograph from nature—is on display in a secured exhibition case here in the lobby of the Ransom Center. Because of its complicated structure and unique viewing properties, this case has been specially designed and constructed to maximize both the viewing of the image and the conservation and security of the object. Although reproductions of the image upon the plate have been published countless times, the viewing of the original heliograph is in itself an experience almost as unique as the object itself.
The First Photograph is a one-of-a-kind permanent positive-image process, secured upon the surface of a pewter plate in 1826. As such, the process did not provide for a transparent negative or for multiple positive printings on paper as later photographic processes did and continue to do today. Among the special qualities of this heliograph is the very fact that Joseph Nicéphore Niépce could only produce a singular photograph with any exposure he made. Thus, the object on view is the unique original; the creator could make no more duplicates of it.
The First Photograph is not an easy object to view, due to the chemical and physical characteristics of the heliographic process and to the reflective nature of its polished pewter plate. Thus, a special enclosure has been constructed to produce the correct levels of display light and to block out the brighter surrounding or ambient light that would reduce the viewing properties of the plate itself. Please feel free to move about the entire observation port of the case in order to find the optimum viewing angle.
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