The first permanent photograph required an eight-hour exposure on a pewter plate
The first permanent photograph was created in 1826 by exposing a bitumen-coated pewter plate to sunlight for eight hours, a process known as heliography.
Nicéphore Niépce achieved the world's first successful 'fixed' image by utilizing the light-sensitive properties of bitumen of Judea, a natural asphalt. In 1826, he coated a pewter plate with the substance and placed it inside a camera obscura pointed out his window at Le Gras. After an eight-hour exposure, the sunlight hardened the bitumen in the bright areas of the scene, while the unexposed sections remained soft.
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