World Photography Day Date in the current year: August 19, 2024

The date of August 19 was chosen to commemorate the invention of the daguerreotype process, which was the first publicly announced photographic process. Daguerreotypy was invented by French artist and chemist Louis Jacques-Mandé Daguerre in the early 1830s. He used a camera obscura to capture images onto copper plates coated with iodized silver.

In 1839, he exchanged his rights to the invention for a lifetime pension from the French government. On August 19 that same year, the French government announced daguerreotypy free to the world as a gift. This event was an important step in the development of modern-day photography.

World Photography Day was first celebrated in 2010. It is a global celebration of the science and art of photography that allows people to express themselves and helps them communicate without words. Professional and amateur photographers from all over the world annually mark this holiday with taking photos and sharing them with the Internet audience, using the #worldphotoday hashtag.