Take a journey through the history of photography. Step into a 19th century portrait studio and see hundreds of incredible objects from our collection, including the museum's first born-digital object.
From the very first photographs to digital snaps, discover the history of photography in the Kodak Gallery.
The invention of photography
See how experiments with chemistry and light created the first permanent images. Examine the work of pioneers like Niépce, Talbot and Daguerre, and view some of our most important objects, from the ancient camera obscura to photographic portraits of the 1840s.
Daylight studio
Explore the local story of Bradford’s greatest photographic studio: the Belle Vue. See how portraits were created with the help of natural light and discover how this old-fashioned practice kept the studio in business late into the 20th century.
Victorian drawing room
History comes alive in our replica of a Victorian drawing room, exactly as it would have been in 1865—complete with a display of the popular carte de visite portraits of the era.
The birth of popular photography
With the introduction of the Kodak camera in 1888 and the Brownie in 1900, photography went from professional occupation to popular pastime. See the cameras and learn about the important work of enthusiastic amateurs.
The post-war years
The second half of the 20th century saw a boom in photography. From the Instamatic, Polaroid and 35mm SLR to the rise of colour photography in the 1960s, take a look at popular post-war cameras—right through to the digital revolution.
The Digital Revolution
The Kodak Galley is home to the first born-digital object collected by the National Science and Media Museum. What we mean by this is that it is the first object in our collection that only exists in digital form.
This object is the ‘Absolute Unit’ meme, which was first posted on Twitter (now X) by the Museum of English Rural Life. The original photo of the ram, taken by its owner George Thorne in 1962, remains in their archive, but the National Science and Media Museum has collected the meme itself.
In the digital age, thanks to social media, photographs are able take on new lives, becoming internet memes like this one—allowing the original photograph to be shared by thousands of people online and reaching new audiences across the world.
Read more about the ‘Absolute Unit’ Twitter meme on Collection Online.
On display
Many of the items on display in this gallery are taken from our collection of 35,000 objects and images donated by Kodak Ltd.
The Lee and Turner project was funded by the Screen Heritage UK Programme and supported by Brian Pritchard, David Cleveland, Roger Mortimer, Madeline Weller and Prime Focus. Special thanks to Yorkshire Film Archive and Screen Yorkshire.
The photographs used in the Daylight Studio are from the Belle Vue photographic collection. They are housed at and looked after by Bradford Industrial Museum, part of Bradford Museums & Galleries.
