It is thought that the first attempts at capturing images were in the early 1800s. Those first images used light sensitive chemicals to register patterns of shadows and light onto different materials. One of the first was believed to be a piece of white leather treated with silver nitrate. Over the next thirty years people experimented with a variety of methods.

One of the first preserved images was taken through a window in France in 1826. In 1839 Sir John Herschel used Greek words to coin the word, photography. Photo, meaning “light” and graph meaning “drawing or writing” with light.

Not long after the word was coined, the first known picture of a person is believed to have been taken. Ironically enough, the first picture is a self portrait. Today we would call it a “selfie”. I guess in 190 years, we have not come too far in what we like to photograph the most, ourselves.

In those early days, cameras were bulky and required time and patience when setting up to take a picture. But the science of photography developed quickly as more and more people wanted to have their images preserved. Industry of the time also saw the need to preserve images for advertising and to show new clients their process and possibilities.

During the Civil War, Matthew Brady’s pictures captured much of the terribleness of war that our country was experiencing. Photographers arriving after the battles often found the dead distorted by heat and the elements. It is a testament to the development of photographic materials and skills of the men who took those images that those frozen bits of history were preserved.

During that same time, photographers captured portraits of President Abraham Lincoln. Those black and white images show the skill of early photographers to capture the president’s image in natural light. Light and shadows on the president’s face showed the personal pain as war dragged on. Through the lens of a camera, we see a man deeply scarred as the country was being torn by the war. Still images, that show the power of photography to preserve what Lincoln must have felt inside.

I have always been fascinated by the images cameras capture. To look through the lens of a camera and decide when to press the button and capture the image is a personal decision. We go on vacation and take pictures of the beach or mountains to preserve the memories of those enjoyable moments. Cameras capture our children at sporting events as they grow into young men and women. Remember those pictures taken in school that show how we looked in each grade from kindergarten to graduation. Place all those pictures together, and they show our childhood as we grew.

In the 1880s, Kodak developed the process of bringing photography to the public with the development of gel coated film to replace the need for glass plates. Since that first picture, until today, a countless amount of pictures have been taken. Weddings, celebrations and even baptisms have been captured in pictures.

Along with my love of photography, I also began finding old pictures and saving them. Probably at a flea market, while looking for old cameras to add to my collection, I first saw a shoe box of old pictures. On the outside of the box it was written, 10 cents each. I picked up the pictures and looked through them. I realized in my hand I held the story of a forgotten family. A story lost in time and now for sale for a few cents. I asked about the pictures and the person selling them said, “If you take the whole box, I’ll sell it for two dollars”. I paid the man for the box of pictures.

Over the years, I have purchased old shoe boxes, family albums and bundles of pictures no longer of value to anyone, anyone but me. They may be of no real financial value, but I don’t buy them for the dollar value, I buy them to preserve them for someone else to remember and wonder about the people frozen in the pictures. I am a firm believer that we do not completely die as long as someone says our names. Maybe my looking into the faces of families, in some way, helps to preserve them a little longer.

Looking at the stoic faces in the images, I wonder who they were and what their names were. Unfortunately, very few pictures have written on the back who the people were and when the picture was taken. Were they happy or sad? Did they have children? What would they think of a world where everyone has a camera, what wondrous things. Photography has captured much of who we are through history.

Today we have all become photographers. Go to any event and see how many people you see pointing their phone and taking pictures. Next, they looked at the pictures and admired their skills. And if their own approval is not enough, they will send pictures to others, even on the far side of the world.

I have been taking pictures since high school. My interest increased after entering the service. The hobby club on base had a dark room we could use. I remember going out into the deserts and taking pictures and then watching them appear in the chemical bath. A time-consuming process, but the emerging image was almost magical. Today take a picture, review it, and if need be, take another. In less than a minute, a moment in time was preserved. Maybe someday in the future a collector will find the file in the cloud and wonder, who was this person who took a picture of Main Street on a beautiful spring day in 2025, as he looked Through The Lens.