Key Milestones
The invention and evolution of photography — the moments that changed how we see the world.
"You press the button, we do the rest." The Kodak camera allows ordinary people to take photographs for the first time, democratising the medium worldwide.
Eastman introduces the Brownie camera at just one dollar, designed for children and beginners. It puts a camera in the hands of virtually everyone and sells continuously for 86 years.
The Lumière brothers introduce the Autochrome — the first practical commercially available colour photography process, using dyed potato starch grains as colour filters.
Cameron's soft-focus, painterly portraits begin to receive serious artistic recognition — helping establish photography as a legitimate fine art, not merely a mechanical process.
The Leica I introduces 35mm film to portable cameras, revolutionising photojournalism by making cameras small enough to carry anywhere.
20 milestones total · 5 per page
