The process invented by Nicéphore Niépce in the 1820s, the first way to fix an image made by light. Niépce coated a plate with bitumen of Judea, which hardens where light falls on it.
His View from the Window at Le Gras, made around 1826 to 1827, is the oldest surviving photograph taken with a camera. The exposure probably lasted many hours, possibly days. Niépce later worked with Louis Daguerre, who went on to develop the daguerreotype.
