World’s First Photograph

View from the window at Gras (also known as the World’s First Photograph), 1 heliograph on pewter plate by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, measuring 16 x 20 cm. It represents the view of the courtyard of Niépce's house at Gras, France, taken from the window of his workroom. On the left side of the image is the pigeon-house (an upper loft in the Niépce family house), to the right of it is a pear-tree with a patch of sky showing through an opening in the branches. In the center of the image is the slanting roof of the barn; the long building behind it is the bake house, with chimney. On the right side of the image is another wing of the house. The plate was exposed for approximately eight hours resulting in the appearance of shadows on opposite sides of the courtyard.