Nicéphore Niépce

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was born in 1765 in Chalon-sur-Saône, France. He took the first photograph, but called it a heliograph after the greek word meaning "of the sun". His big breakthrough was in 1822 when he used the "camera obscura" to make a permanent image. In 1832, he discovered lavender oil to be a photosensitive agent that allowed him to obtain a photo in eight hours. This process was called "physautotype". He died one year later in 1833.