Born: 1765, 7 March - France, Chalon-sur-Saône Died: 1833, 5 July Gender: Male Active: France
French inventor and photographer. Niépce experimented with fixing an image from 1813-1822, when he successfully produced an image on tin. Inventor of the heliographic process (1824) which was not a commercial success. He took the first known photograph from nature in 1827. By 1826/7 he was using a pewter base, etched with bitumen of Judaea and lavender oil but lack of interest in his invention caused him to leave his three heliographs in Kew when he visited London in 1827, and from there, these exceedingly rare items made their way to the RPS Collection. His contribution to photography, has, until recently, been overwhelmed, by his partnership with Daguerre, who, after Niépce‘s death in 1833, took and improved his research and, in 1839, launched the Daguerreotype, effectively claiming that the invention was his own.
[With contributions by Pam Roberts]
Genealogy of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
If you are related to this photographer and interested in tracking down your extended family we can place a note here for you to help. It is free and you would be amazed who gets in touch.
Unidentified photographer / artist, 1888 (publication), Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. 1765-1833. From a photograph of the Statue at Chalons, Frontispiece, Google Books, LL/34816
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, 1989, 6 September (date of issue), Set of 3 from Suriname stamps commemorating the 150th anniversary of photography. The stamp no. 844 (Scott) shows portrait of Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833)., Postage stamp, Private collection of Krzysztof Slowinski, LL/36846
Approved biographies
Wikipedia
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (French: [nisefɔʁ njɛps]; 7 March 1765 - 5 July 1833) was a French inventor and one of the earliest pioneers of photography. Niépce developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world's oldest surviving products of a photographic process. In the mid-1820s, he used a primitive camera to produce the oldest surviving photograph of a real-world scene. Among Niépce's other inventions was the Pyréolophore, one of the world's first internal combustion engines, which he conceived, created, and developed with his older brother Claude Niépce.
SHARED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION PROJECT
We welcome institutions and scholars willing to test the sharing of biographies for the benefit of the photo-history community. The biography above is a part of this trial.
If you find any errors please email us details so they can be corrected as soon as possible.