Heliography Project 1827–2027

From heliography through Google Street View to AI-generated images.

The Oldest Surviving Photograph in the World

In the late summer of 1827, after several days of exposure, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce held in his hands the oldest surviving photograph in the world – “View from the Window at Le Gras” (French: “Point de vue du Gras”). The photograph (16.5 × 21 cm) shows the view from the window of his studio in Le Gras (Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France). Niépce created the photo using a camera obscura on a tin plate coated with asphalt dissolved in lavender oil. He named the process heliography, derived from the Greek, meaning “drawn with the sun.”

Although the process was laborious and time-consuming, it marked a turning point in human history: the first successful attempt to capture a fleeting moment permanently. The resulting image, delicate and barely visible, was a quiet yet revolutionary triumph over transience. With this technique, what was previously intangible became tangible – fixed on metal, preserved, and portable.

Photographic works on asphalt as well as further information can be found at: heliographie.art.