Photography Facts

Did you know that the first photograph was taken in 1826?

Or that Instagram is the most popular social media photo-sharing app?

Since you might have guessed the latter, in this blog post we will share some of the lesser-known facts about photography.

Check out these interesting photography facts that you should know!

General Facts About Photography

1. Photography is the world’s most popular art form.
2. The word photography comes from the Greek words “photo” (light) and “graphos” (drawing).
3. There are 95 million photos shared on Instagram each day. And there are now more than 50 billion photos shared on Instagram (at the time of writing).
4. Photos that have been edited with filters or effects will be less likely to make it into a family album because they don’t reflect reality.
5. In 1900, Kodak introduced its Brownie Camera for $1 to allow people who couldn’t afford expensive cameras take pictures too.
6. Many photographers prefer natural light over artificial light because it creates more depth in photos.
7. Photos are the most popular type of content on social media.
8. Photos make up 90% of all mobile data usage.
9. Top of the highest paid photographers are:

• Andreas Gursky
• Annie Leibovitz
• Lynsey Addario
• Morgan Norman
• Nick Brandt

10. On average, a photographer’s income ranges from $20,000 to $120,000 per year.
11. Photography is one of the few professions that has not yet been fully replaced by robots. And it will not be soon.
12. The number of photographers in the United States is estimated to be around 313,000.
13. Around 33% of those are self-employed.
14. Most photographers work part time and only earn an average salary of $30,000 per year.
15. Beginner photographers should be aware that it takes about 8 years on average to become successful in this field.
16. The most popular photography subject is people, followed by landscapes and architecture.
17. Photographers are now turning to artificial light for their photos.

Cameras and Technical Facts

18. The shutter speed on your camera is measured in seconds or fractions of a second.
19. Aperture settings can refer to both the size and shape of the lens opening.
20. White balance refers to how warm or cool colors appear in photos.
21. Camera sensors are measured by pixel count – more pixels means higher resolution images.
22. Depth-of-field refers to what parts of a photo will be in focus, based on distance from the camera.
23. A Hasselblad 70mm camera was used in Apollo 17 Mission on December 7th, 1972. The famous photo of Earth was taken with it.
24. There are over 1 billion cameras worldwide today!
25. In bright light, the equivalent f-stop values for the human eye are f/8.3 and in the dark it’s f/2.

Facts About Photos

26. Up to 3 billion pictures are shared on the internet every single day. In the digital age, we are capturing more moments than ever before. The sheer number of pictures in existence today has been exponentially amplified by social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat.
27. A picture is worth a thousand words, and according to experts, looking at pictures can increase your attention span by up to 400%.
28. Photos have the power to evoke emotions – they can make you feel happy or sad.
29. When people look at photos of themselves, their brains release serotonin which makes them feel good about themselves.
30. Photos allow us to remember things that we may not be able to recall otherwise because it’s easier for our brain to process images than text or audio recordings.
31. The average person takes 20,000 photographs in their lifetime and most never show them to anyone. However, most of these pictures will sit on your phone forever without ever being shown off to friends and family members who might enjoy seeing them!
32. A professional photographer can spend about 2-6 hours editing a single photo.
33. Snapshots were originally used to capture moments of one’s life on film but now it is used more casually to describe any type of photo that captures an event or moment for personal use only.
34. 85% of all photos are taken with smartphones.

Photography in History

35. Photography has a long history – the word “photography” was coined in 1839 and comes from the Greek words meaning “drawing with light”.
36. Photography is one of the oldest arts.
37. The first photograph was taken in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. A pioneer in photography, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first photograph by exposing a plate to light from his window for more than eight hours.
38. In 1941, a photographer named Ansel Adams took one of the most iconic landscape photographs ever called “Moonrise Over Hernandez“.
39. Digital cameras have been available since 1975 and became popular after 1990s when they started to become affordable for consumers.
40. Cameras have been used for many purposes throughout history – from capturing moments to documenting wars and disasters.
41. Did you know?

George Eastman created photographic film for use in cameras after experimenting with gelatin emulsion plates and glass negatives – he had difficulty finding backers for his invention at first because others doubted its commercial viability but eventually succeeded in getting funding from Philadelphia businessman Henry Strong after showing him some sample photographs taken with his camera; Eastman’s company later became known as Kodak.

42. The first commercial camera was invented in 1839. This device changed the way that society saw photography, allowing for a wider range of views to be captured and shared with others than ever before seen on film or through glass-plate technology up until this point.
43. Kodak is the company that made the first digital camera to be sold commercially.
44. Photography is one of the few professions that has been around since the 1800s.
45. In the past decade, the number of female photographers has increased dramatically.

Since more and more women are picking up photography as a creative hobby, in recent years there has been an uptick in female photographers who have begun to dominate throughout different genres of art- from fashion shots to landscapes that span across our country’s vast terrain.

46. You can take photos without using any film or digital technology! These are called pinhole cameras which were invented by Louis Daguerre around 1830-1833 and made it public in 1839.

Photography Facts: Conclusion

Photography has been around for more than 170 years, and it continues to be the world’s most popular art form. It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional photographer or an amateur with your phone camera; we all take photos.

Photography is a powerful tool for storytelling and capturing the moments of our lives. With so many photos being taken every day, it can be hard to know which are worth framing on your wall or adding to your family album.