Which inventor created the first permanent photograph, made in France around 1826?

Nicéphore Niépce created the first permanent photograph, made in France around 1826.

Niépce called his process heliography, meaning “sun drawing.” He coated a pewter plate with bitumen of Judea, a light-sensitive material, and exposed it in a camera from an upstairs window at his estate in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes. The resulting image, commonly known as View from the Window at Le Gras, survives today.

The exposure required many hours, probably about eight or more, so the image shows sunlight illuminating buildings from different directions. Niépce’s process was a major breakthrough because earlier camera-obscura images were temporary unless traced by hand. The original plate is now associated with the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas.

Louis Daguerre later partnered with Niépce and improved photographic methods after Niépce’s death. Daguerre’s daguerreotype became publicly known in 1839, while William Henry Fox Talbot developed a separate negative-and-positive process. These later advances should not obscure Niépce’s earlier permanent photograph.