World Photography Day

World Photography Day
Date	19 August

World Photography Day is celebrated on August 19 every year. It is celebrated around the world through various events.

August 19 – A Misconstructed ‘World Photography Day’

History often suffers distortions when events are celebrated without context. “World Photography Day” on August 19 is one such misunderstanding.

On August 19, 1839, the French government officially announced that the daguerreotype photographic process would be gifted freely to the world. This was not the birth of photography, but merely the day an invention was opened to the public. Later, however, people began to observe it as “World Photography Day,” a label never officially declared by any global body.

The true beginning of photography traces back to 1826/27, when Joseph Nicéphore Niépce captured the world’s first permanent image, “View from the Window at Le Gras.” His tireless years of experimentation and sacrifice laid the foundation of modern photography.

Thus, if photography is to be celebrated, it should be tied to Niépce’s pioneering achievement, not to the announcement of Daguerre’s process.

👉 To call August 19 “World Photography Day” is, therefore, to misrepresent historical truth

History

In 1837, Nicéphore Niépce and Louis Daguerre invented the Daguerre type photographic system. This method is called daguerreo type. Scientist Louis Daguerre was the first to discover this practical method of photography. After his name, this way of taking pictures is called daguerreo type photography. From then on a new chapter in photography began. On August 19, 1839, the first French government declared August 19 as World Photography Day.