Listen&Learn: History of the camera

Learn how photography has evolved throughout history.

Pre-listening vocabulary

• project: to display an image on a surface
• permanent: lasting forever
• accessible: easy for many people to obtain or use
• film: a type of plastic with light-sensitive chemicals on it
• digital: using numbers to store information
• detect: to notice or sense something

Listening activity

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Gapfill exercise

The earliest stage of the camera’s invention was the camera obscura, a device used by ancient Chinese and Greek civilizations. The camera obscura was a dark room that let in a small amount of light through a hole and projected a image of an object outside. In 1826, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first permanent by using light-sensitive substances inside a camera obscura. By the late 1800s, inventor Louis Daguerre had created a camera that could take photographs on sheets. These photographs were called daguerreotypes. However, they were and not widely available. Photography became more accessible in the 20th century, when anyone could buy low-cost film cameras. Today, digital cameras work by using signals to gather and store information about the light they detect.

Comprehension questions

See answers below

1. The camera obscura was
   a. a device that took photographs on silver sheets
   b. a low-cost camera that anyone could buy
   c. a dark room that projected an image through a hole
   
2. The first permanent photograph was taken in
   a. 1800
   b. 1826
   c. 1900
   
3. A daguerreotype was
   a. a photograph taken using colour film
   b. a digital photograph stored as a set of numbers
   c. a photograph taken on a silver sheet

Discussion/essay questions

1. What are some ways that society has been changed by the ability to take pictures?

Transcript

The earliest stage of the camera’s invention was the camera obscura, a device used by ancient Chinese and Greek civilizations. The camera obscura was a dark room that let in a small amount of light through a hole and projected a mirror image of an object outside. In 1826, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first permanent photograph by using light-sensitive substances inside a camera obscura. By the late 1800s, inventor Louis Daguerre had created a camera that could take photographs on silver sheets. These photographs were called daguerreotypes. However, they were expensive and not widely available. Photography became more accessible in the 20th century, when anyone could buy low-cost film cameras. Today, digital cameras work by using electrical signals to gather and store information about the light they detect.

Answers to comprehension questions

1c 2b 3c