Nicéphore Niépce (born Joseph Niépce; 7 March 1765 -- 5 July 1833) was a French inventor, now usually credited as the inventor of photography and a pioneer in that field. Niépce developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world 's oldest surviving product of a photographic process: a print made from a photoengraved printing plate in 1825. In 1826 or 1827, he used a primitive camera to produce the oldest surviving photograph of a real - world scene. Among Niépce 's other inventions was the Pyréolophore, the world 's first internal combustion engine, which he conceived, created, and developed with his older brother Claude.
who is responsible for the first permanent photograph called a heliograph
Nicéphore Niépce