Life before the camera - Although it is hard to think of a time when no real-life pictures could be taken, before the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the camera this idea was a reality. Every portrait or image needed to be painted, which took hours and hours to perfect the realistic look - and even so, the images were often not nearly close to looking like real-life. This pre-photography age spanned from the beginning of our country up until 1826 or 1827 when the first real image was captured with a camera.
Life at the time of the camera's invention - At the time of the camera's invention, the photographs produced were relatively grainy and low-quality. The picture farthest to the left is the first picture ever taken, which is of the view outside of a window. Although it is hard to make out, it shows rows of houses and a street in the middle. Despite the blurriness that the first cameras created when they were produced around the year 1826 or 1827, there was much excitement around such a promising new invention. Time and money were invested into the camera-making process so that the quality could be increased and more efficient cameras could be created. Eventually, as seen in the second and third pictures, more detail could be captured by future cameras that were developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Life after the camera's invention - Since the first camera was invented in the early 1800s, vast improvements have been made on its design and the images it can capture. In the present day, 2017, cameras have been updated significantly. Images are now high-quality and can capture vibrant colors. Waterproof, underwater cameras have been created to capture images like the one on the right, and cameras now even come built-in with most cellphones. Instead of having an exposure time of nearly eight hours like the first camera, it takes only a millisecond to capture such high-definition images. Cameras are available to almost everyone now and have such an imperative role in the day-to-day lives of billions of people worldwide.