National Camera Day 2022: All you need to know

New Delhi, Jun 28: The one job that everybody can do nearly everywhere is taking photos. Cameras we see today as an application on our phones or as ultra-modern DSLRs have resulted from decades of evolution and adaption. Today, a camera might not hold the same value it held even two decades ago because practically everyone has one on their smartphones. But everyone still knows how lucky they are to own something that captures moments in their lives for eternity.

To commemorate this evolution of cameras, photography and their irreplaceable value in our lives, June 29 is celebrated as National Camera Day every year.

History

Hard to believe, but cameras existed way before photography came into existence. An Arab scholar, Ibn al-Haytham, invented the first camera in the early 11th century. His camera was based on the conceptual descriptions of the Camera Obscura effect, the very first mention of which can be found in a Chinese text named Mozi (400 BC) and the writings of Aristotle (330 BC). This was constructed to provide a safe alternative to watching a solar eclipse.

In 1816, French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce invented a camera that actually preserved a photograph. In 1829, Alexander Wolcott invented the first perfect camera, which produced not negative but positive images that did not need a reversion. Through inventions for the betterment of cameras that included daguerreotypes, calotypes, dry plates, film, etc., today we have arrived at digital and smartphone cameras that can capture better images than the previous ones ever did in a shorter span of time.

By the late 1800s, George Eastman, an American entrepreneur and founder of Kodak, brought the camera to the masses. He provided for easier photography and production of cameras. He became the "Father of photography."

Celebrating National Camera Day

Cameras are important to everyone today, whether as a profession, hobby or simply for capturing a moment. To mark their prominence in our lives, we celebrate National Camera Day. Celebrate this National Camera Day by taking photos of something or someone you love and cherish. Go on a trip or take a walk outside or around your home and capture mundane or essential things on your camera.

Share them on your social media with the hashtag #NationalCameraDay, or just keep them in your gallery as an unfading memory. Take that photography class you have always wanted to take or teach someone how to work their cameras. Buy the camera you have had an eye on or learn new photography techniques.

There is no single way to celebrate this day. So whatever you do, remember how beautiful and better cameras make our lives today.