I was intrigued to know just how many days ago that the first photograph was taken.

There are a few things to consider before we make such a calculation, first a little history.

The first photograph was taken by Nicéphore Niépce in 1826, using a process called heliography. This process involved coating a pewter plate with a light-sensitive substance called bitumen, which hardened when exposed to light. The image, titled “View from the Window at Le Gras,” shows the view from Niépce’s window and took about eight hours to expose.

To calculate how many days ago the first photograph was taken, we can subtract the date of that photograph (1826) from the current year (2025).

2025 – 1826 = 199 years

Since there are 365 days in a year, give or take the occasional leap year, we can then multiply the number of years by 365 to get the total number of days.

199 years x 365 days/year = 72,635 days

So, the first photograph was taken approximately 72,635 days ago. (Give or take a few days)

That doesn’t seem as great a number in my mind compared to the 199 years, maybe because we relate to a day being considerably shorter than a year (Obviously 🤦‍♂️). It sounds as if you could have even been around when the photo was taken, obviously you couldn’t have been and this is just me having an early morning ramble. So the next question is how many pictures have been taken since then?

Considering the usage of mobile technology I’d suspect that the answer is unobtainable due to the sheer volume of pictures now taken on a daily basis.

But I have put this question to one of those A.I apps available on my phone, to see what it says, and here is the answer that it has given, I asked:

“How many pictures have been taken since that first one in 1826?”

Estimating the Number of Pictures Taken

Using historical data and trends, we can estimate the number of pictures taken since 1826:

• Pre-digital era (1826-1970s): Assuming an average of 1 million photographs taken per year (a rough estimate), we get approximately 150 million photographs taken during this period.
• Digital era (1970s-2007): With the advent of digital cameras, the number of pictures taken increased significantly. Let’s assume an average of 100 million photographs taken per year during this period, resulting in approximately 3.5 billion photographs taken.
• Smartphone era (2007-present): With the widespread adoption of smartphones, the number of pictures taken has grown exponentially. According to a report by InfoTrends, over 1 trillion photographs were taken in 2015 alone. Assuming an average of 1.5 trillion photographs taken per year since 2007, we get approximately 23.5 trillion photographs taken during this period.

Total Number of Pictures Taken

Adding up the estimates from each era, we get:

150 million (pre-digital) + 3.5 billion (digital) + 23.5 trillion (smartphone) ≈ 23.8 trillion photographs taken since 1826.

Keep in mind that this is a rough estimate and should be taken as a rough order of magnitude rather than an exact figure.

Meta A.I

Wow. Big numbers.

Amazing. Just like you. Have a great day.