Joseph-Nicéphore NIEPCE
Born in Châlons sur Saône in 1765, it was around 1815 that, for the first time, he thought of obtaining images by the chemical action of light on impressionable substances. He was put in the path of this kind of research, by the invention of lithography, which, discovered in Germany by Senefelder, had been imported into France in 1814 by M. de Lasteyrie.
Reflecting on the principle of lithography, Niepce dared to think that it might not be impossible to go even further. He had the idea of obtaining on a metal plate the representation of objects by the mere action of light rays. He used the dark room to which he adapted a glass lens. In May 1816 he was able to obtain for the first time luminous impressions.