In 1824Nicéphore Niépce laid the foundations of modern photographyopening an era of technical and artistic revolution. As the bicentenary of this invention is celebrated in 2024, we take a look back at the fascinating history of the first photograph preserved, The Fat’s Point of Viewthe fruit of the perseverance and genius of a visionary inventor.
Considered as the very first photograph in history – the previous images of the inventor having not been able to be fixed or preserved – The Fat’s Point of View is the work of Nicéphore Niépce (1765–1833), French inventor, pioneer of photography. This “simple” tin plate marks the outcome of several years of research and testing led by Nicéphore Niépce – and therefore the advent of modern photography.
In the workshop of a relentless inventor
Born Joseph Niépce on 7 mars 1765the engineer adopted the nickname Nicéphore in 1788. Before devoting himself to photography, this genius distinguished himself by other inventions, such as the pyreolophorethe first internal combustion engine developed with his brother Claude. However, it will be on the capturing and fixing images in darkrooms that Nicéphore Niépce will concentrate his efforts with the most determination.
His rich correspondence, collected by Manuel Bonnet and Jean-Louis Marignier in the work Niépce, Correspondance & Papiers, freely accessible online, allows us to get an idea of his progress and success.
It was from 1816 that Nicéphore Niepce, then aged around fifty, began his heliography experiments (writing by light). He sets up his workshop on the first floor of his house. Saint-Loup-de-Varennesnicknamed “Le Gras”, near Châlon-sur-Saône. It is in this place, bathed in light in the summer, that he uses darkroomsboxes fitted with a lens projecting an inverted image.
He thus obtains the first negative in history that same year, which he then named “retina”, using sheets of paper coated with silver salts. Unfortunately, the image is not stable and darkens quickly upon exposure. Niépce then aims for a positive image but struggles to find a solution for its fixation. His perseverance and his numerous experiments on solvents and the solutions photosensibles lead him, a decade before The Fat’s Point of Viewto a new success.
In 1822Nicéphore Niépce manages to reproduce by contact a portrait of Cardinal D’Amboise on a glass plate covered with bitumen of Judea. He discovered that this natural tar, of which he still had a bag inherited from his research on enginesEast photosensitive and insoluble in its usual solvents.
The photographic process is in its infancy, and Nicéphore Niépce has just invented photoengraving (heliogravure). In search of a way to capture the image rather than reproduce it, he does not appreciate the importance of this discovery.
In 1824 a new reproduction attempt using lithographic stones allows you to obtain an image, first photograph strictly speaking. This landscape requiring several days of exposure in full sun has not reached us.
1827 : The Fat’s Point of Viewfirst photograph in history
In 1827Nicéphore Niépce uses a polished tin platemeasuring approximately 16 x 20 cm, covered in turn with bitumen of Judea. Exposed through a camera obscurathe plate captures the view from the window of his workshop. Nicéphore Niépce’s stubbornness paid off. The exposure time, initially estimated at a whole day, was reconsidered through reconstructions and seems to have required several days in full sun.
On the plate is drawn the view offered to the gaze of the inventor. The significance of this image may seem difficult to appreciate ; the years and our eyes now accustomed to much better resolutions are no strangers to this. It is therefore a retouched reproduction which is commonly used to testify to the success of the French inventor.
The Point of View of Fat shows a partial view of the courtyard and buildings surrounding the house in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes from the open window. Although blurry, it reveals a structured composition and one marked perspective by the alignment of architectural elements. This simple but technical view highlights the limits of the first processes while demonstrating the potential which already resides in this invention.
If others seem to have preceded it, that’s good The Fat’s Point of View which is written in history like the very first photograph. We will have to wait until 1838 with photography Boulevard du Temple by Louis Daguerre to see the first human in a photograph. In this image, in the lower left part, two men have been immortalized thanks to their immobility.
A difficult recognition
Nicéphore Niépce continues to improve his technique and obtains 1828 a excellent quality shooting presenting halftone by using a polished silver platealways covered with bitumen of judeasubject to iodine vapors.
If we now know what revolution photography was going to be, Nicéphore Niépce’s contemporaries appear less convinced… The Royal Society (organization for the encouragement of Arts, manufactures and commerce born in 1754) did not show any interest and the inventor who left in search of support across the Channel returned to France empty-handed. Also, Nicéphore Niépce donated of his images by contact, of Fat’s Point of View and his working notes to the botanist Franz Bauer.
In 1829, he joined forces with Louis Daguerreinventor of dioramato improve the quality and brightness of images obtained in the darkroom but above all to reduce the required installation time. Together, they develop the physautotypeancestor of the daguerreotype born from an experimental accident on their residue of lavender distillation. The installation time is reduced to “only” 8 hours but the official recognition of their work remains once again limited.
On July 5, 1833, Nicéphore Niépce died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He will never see his invention achieve glory. When Niépce died, Daguerre continued his research until arriving in 1839 at a exposure time of a few minutes.
Louis Daguerre presents his daguerreotype and is acclaimed as the inventor of photography. Far from the reputation of usurper which is often lent to him, he attests in his correspondence to Isidore Niépce, the son of the engineer, of the paternity of the latter for photography.
However, on the contrary, we must redouble our ardor in thinking that we will immortalize his name by publishing his discovery.
Letter from Daguerre to Isidore Niépce dated July 12, 1833
It will take the threat of recognition of English anticipation attributed to William Henry Fox Talbot so that the discoveries of Nicéphore Niépce finally officially come out of the shadows.
When Franz Bauer died in 1840, The Fat’s Point of View will be exhibited in several events, becoming a historical curiosity. Last presented to the public in 1898elle sink into oblivion for around fifty years.
The Point of View of Fat in the 20th Century
In 1952the art historian Helmut Gernsheim rediscover The Fat’s Point of View and acquires the plaque. There posterity of Nicéphore Niépce as inventor of photography is now assuredin particular thanks to the numerous trips made by the historical archive to take part in events and exhibitions. The collector entrusts his copy to Kodak laboratorieswhich create a retouched reproduction to remove defects and make image details more visible. It is this version which will be widely distributed until the 1970s.
The original plate joins the collection of the University of Texas in 1963thanks to Harry Ransom. It is today kept there in a airtight container filled with helium to protect her from corrosion a you blackeningalthough not very fragile given that the Judean bitumen, with which it is covered, solidifies over time.
In 2003the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and the University of Texas are organizing a 4-day conference on the work of Nicéphore Niépce. A new official reproductionwithout manipulation, is then produced by combining different techniques: classic, ultraviolet, infrared and digital photography. This project makes it possible to faithfully restore the image and preserve its heritage.
In the footsteps of Nicéphore Niépce
At the same time, Pierre-Yves Mahéfounder of the Spéos photography school, undertakes excavations in the house of Saint-Loup-de-Varennes of which he became tenant for reconstitute the workshop. He presents a documentary film on his research at the conference.
First photographer to invest the places since the disappearance of Nicéphore Niépcehis work verifies the thesis of Jean-Louis Marignier, researcher at the CNRS: the window from which The Fat’s Point of View was taken was located at the time 70 cm from current location.
The house of Nicéphore Niépcerecognized as the first photographic workshopis today classified by the Ministry of Culture as a world heritage site under the label Houses of the Illustrious. In summer, visitors can discover this iconic place, while the Nicéphore Niépce museum in Chalon-sur-Saône, created in 1972, ensures protect et promote his legacy.
While it goes without saying that the works of Nicéphore Niépce are at the beginning of the current omnipresence of the imageseveral artists were directly inspired by Fat’s Point of View. Daido Moriyama admitting to being one of his most fervent admirers.
The Fat’s Point of View remains a historical curiosity and a symbol of the first photographic explorations. Testimony of an era when capturing the moment was a miracle, this plaque embodies the perseverance and vision of Nicéphore Niépce, pioneer of writing using light. A man in whose footsteps every photographer has been walking for 200 years now.
The Ministry of Culture and the Nicéphore Nièpce museum will celebrate the bicentenary of photography in 2026-2027 – the two institutions retaining the capture of the Point of View of Gras and the Notice on Heliography written by Niépce as key dates. Until then, the 200 years of the photographic process (1824) are celebrated at the Quai de la Photo with the support of Maison Niépce.
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