Technically photography is the process of recording pictures by capturing light (reflecting from objects) on a light-sensitive film (analogue cameras) or electronic sensor(digital cameras). Photography as a usable process goes back to 1820s when the chemical photography was developed. But the discoveries that made photography possible are even older.

The first inventions that made photography possible were camera obscura and pinhole camera. The first invention (camera obscura) means dark room in Latin. This process was discovered and used first by Ibn al-Haytham (Alhasen) (965-1040). It was basically one box shape dark room with a hole in one side. The light entered the dark room through the hole and created a upside-down projection of the image that was seen from the hole. It was then possible to draw pictures of different objects more accurately. The smaller the hole was, the sharper the projection was. But with less light passing by the hole the projection is darker when the hole is smaller.

Pinhole camera uses same technology and principles as camera obscura but pinhole camera is smaller in size and usually portable. It is basically a camera without conventional glass lens.