Photography Day is nothing but celebrating photography. Today is the day to embrace your love of photography, whether you see yourself as an Amateur, Hobbyist or Professional, it’s the day to show off what you can do. Photography has the ability to tell stories and inspire people and with the dawn of digital photography we can share memories across the world in seconds with the use of online galleries. Photography has changed the way we see the world and gives you the ability to share your perception on the world around you.

The date behind World Photo Day originates from the invention of the Daguerreotype, a photographic processes developed by Joseph Nicèphore Nièpce and Louis Daguerre in 1837. On January 9, 1839, The French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype process. A few months later, on August 19, 1839, the French government purchased the patent and announced the invention as a gift “Free to the World”.

It should be noted that the Daguerreotype wasn’t the first permanent photographic image. In 1826, Nicèphore Nièpce captured the earliest known permanent photograph known as ‘View from the Window at Le Gras‘ using a process called Heliography. August 19th, 1839 was chosen as the date behind World Photo Day based on the following historical merits:

- The Daguerreotype was the first practical photographic process.
- The purchase and release of the patent by the French government.

On August 19th 2010, World Photo Day hosted it’s first global online gallery. With 270 photographs shared and website visitors from over 100 countries, this marked the first official, globally reaching World Photo Day.

Since the launch of the project, we’ve heard from people that have been celebrating photography on August 19th in their local communities prior to 2010. There’s also evidence of an attempt to start a June 1st photography celebration in 2005. We acknowledge this history of previous celebrations and believe that it demonstrates that this strong passion behind photography is the catalyst of World Photo Day.

Photography surrounds us in every moment and yet, we often don’t realize how powerful the images we capture every day can be. Today, we can share memories across the globe in seconds. Photography is an invention that has revolutionized the way we see the world. We can visit places without leaving our home. We can share adventures with friends in another city and we can watch grandchildren grow up thousands of kilometers away.

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