Photography, when broken down to its roots, means writing with light, and the way people achieve this has evolved over the centuries. In 2014, most people associate photography with Instagram, Flicker, Shutterfly, and smartphones, and photography is seen as an activity that everyone can participate in. As much as professional photographers may hate the fact that their profession is becoming less relevant, the ability for almost everyone to take photos is a significant achievement in the long history of the profession. In order to fully appreciate the ability to eliminate pimples, change your eye color, and generally look flawless in a selfie, you need to witness the evolution of the camera and photography . The idea of ​​capturing an image was not even considered when Alhazen, a specialist in medieval optics, invented the first pinhole camera. The camera was used for viewing and drawing until Joseph Niepce made the first solar print. He “placed an engraving on a metal plate” which would be exposed to light for eight hours and then had to be immersed in a solvent to produce a temporary image (Bellis 1). From there, a more modern photograph called Daguerreotype was invented allowing for a lasting image. People fell in love with the pictures, and from 1837 to 1850, over seventy studios were introduced in New York City alone (Bellis 1). The images produced by the Daguerreotype are not the images we see in old family photo albums, these photographs were taken with film. Children today view cinema as old technology and have no idea how it works, but film is a spectacular invention that is still used today! The creation of film is the most important invention in the history of photography, as film has been used for over a hundred years. In 1841, Henry Tal...... middle of paper ......you-can-learn-from-the-history-of-street-photography/>. McCurry, Steve. “A life revealed”. Photograph. April 2002. Web. May 1, 2014..McCurry, Steve. “Afghan girl.” Photograph. Nationalgiographic.com 1985. Web. May 1, 2014. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2002/04/afghan-girl/index-text>.Newman, Cathy. “A life revealed”. NationalGeographic.com. April 2002. Web. May 1st. 2014..Wanke, Michele. “Why is photojournalism important? » smashingmagazine.com. and Web. Apr 30, 2014. photography/>. Zhang, Michael. “Why weren’t people smiling in old photos? » Petapixel.com. September 23, 2013. The web. May 3 2014. .