Nicéphore Niépce

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Image:View from the Window at Le Gras, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.jpg

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (March 7, 1765 – July 5, 1833) was a French inventor, most noted as a pioneer in photography. (His surname is often spelled without the accent.)

The first successful permanent photograph was produced by Niépce. He began experimenting with processes to set optical images in 1793. Some of his early experiments produced images, but they faded rapidly. He was said to have first produced long lasting images in 1824. The earliest known surviving example of a Niépce photograph (or any other photograph) was created in June or July of 1827 (or 1826, according to some sources). Niépce called his process "heliography", meaning "sun writing." The exposure time required is an issue still debated today, somewhere between 8 and 20 hours. Because of the very long exposure time, the process was used to photograph buildings and inanimate objects, but could not be practically used to photograph people.

Starting in 1829 he began collaborating on improved photographic processes with Louis Daguerre. Niépce died suddenly of a stroke in 1833.

Niepce crater on the Moon has been named after him in recognition of his accomplishments.

As of 2004 Niépce's photograph, View from the Window at Le Gras, is on display in the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. The image was rediscovered in 1952 by historians Alison and Helmut Gernshiem.