Photographic Anniversaries - 2026 edition
I often begin a class, whatever the subject, with an introduction that looks at the history of the discipline in relation to the significant anniversaries for that year. So, I shall be starting this year's photography classes with significant events from 1826, 1876, 1926, 1976, and 2001.
• 1826 – First permanent camera photograph by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
Niépce produced View from the Window at Le Gras using heliography on a bitumen-coated plate. This image proved that light could form a lasting record through a camera, fixing photography as a technical and cultural possibility rather than a speculative idea.
• 1876 – Motion analysis begins with Eadweard Muybridge
Muybridge started his systematic studies of animal motion at Palo Alto for Leland Stanford. Photography shifted from static record to analytical tool, capable of breaking time into measurable parts.
• 1876 – Gelatin dry plates enter practical use
Dry plates allowed photographers to work without portable darkrooms and long preparation. This change shortened exposure times and widened access, laying the ground for faster reportage and later handheld cameras.
• 1876 – Photography displayed as modern industry at the Centennial International Exhibition
Photography appeared alongside engines and machines rather than fine art alone. The exhibition framed photography as part of scientific and industrial progress, shaping how nations valued photographic labour.
• 1901 – Mass photography normalised through the Kodak Brownie
Although released in 1900, 1901 marked its first full year of mass use. Photography became an everyday habit rather than a specialist skill, embedding image-making in family and social life.
• 1901 – Death of Queen Victoria widely photographed
Her funeral and mourning were circulated through photographs at national scale. Photography emerged as the primary medium for collective memory and public history.
• 1901 – Camera Notes under Alfred Stieglitz peaks
The journal framed photography as a serious art form through criticism and print quality. It prepared the cultural ground for modernist photography in the following decade.
• 1926 – Eadweard Muybridge’s methods consolidated in scientific practice
By this point, serial exposure and timed shutters had entered wider use. Photography gained authority as an analytical and evidential medium.
• 1926 – Die Welt ist schön enters public debate
Albert Renger-Patzsch promoted sharp focus and factual description. Photography aligned itself with clarity and surface truth as ethical stance.
• 1926 – Bauhaus photography expanded by László Moholy-Nagy
Moholy-Nagy argued that photography trained modern vision. The camera became central to design, education, and social change.
• 1926 – Leica adopted for press and street work
The small 35 mm camera moved from novelty to practice. Candid, mobile photography became feasible and reshaped reportage.
• 1951 – Release of Kodak Ektachrome
Ektachrome allowed colour processing outside Kodak labs. Colour photography shifted from specialist craft to routine tool.
• 1951 – Nikon S establishes Japanese optics
Press photographers praised Nikon lenses for sharpness and reliability. The camera helped shift professional trust away from European dominance.
• 1951 – Festival of Britain uses photography as civic language
Photography recorded optimism, design, and social progress. The medium became part of national storytelling rather than mere documentation.
• 1976 – William Eggleston’s Guide
Eggleston’s colour photographs entered a major modern art museum. Colour gained equal cultural status with black and white.
• 1976 – New Topographics exhibition
Photographers depicted human-altered landscapes without drama. The show reshaped landscape photography toward restraint and social reading.
• 1976 – Polaroid SX-70 adopted by artists
Instant colour images altered creative process and feedback. Speed became part of thought rather than post-production.
• 2001 – 9/11 photographed in real time
The attacks generated an unprecedented volume of images from professionals and civilians alike. Photography moved fully into live, shared history.
• 2001 – Release of the Canon EOS‑1D
This camera replaced film for daily press work. Digital photography became economically and ethically unavoidable.
• 2001 – Launch of Wikipedia
Images entered shared, edited archives with unstable authorship. Meaning became collective and contested.
• 2001 – Magnum Photos accelerates digital transition
Debates over workflow and control reshaped photographic labour. The cooperative model entered a long period of strain and adaptation.
Almost inevitably, I will have missed something that someone considers crucial, or got a date slightly wrong - there’s some debate about the year in which the first photograph was made, for example. Do let me know and I can either correct or add to this list. Thanks.
Dr Graham Wilson is a Departmental Tutor in Psychology and Counselling at the University of Oxford, the author of a number of Psychology, Photography, and Organisational Behaviour textbooks, and a member of the APHE executive committee.
