National Photo Month is celebrated each year during May by professional and amateur photographers, and even selfie lovers. The entire month is dedicated to learning the history of photography, mastering its many techniques and skills, and researching which camera is best to invest in. Today, anyone can be considered a photographer in the sense that we constantly take photos of things and people around us. Portable cameras and smartphones have made it easier to click and store photographs on the go. National Photo Month is for everyone who has ever clicked a photo. Share your favorite photos and get your friends to do the same.
History of National Photo Month
National Photo Month was first celebrated in 1987 when Congress recognized the role photos play in our society. The American Photographers Association and other organizations made National Photo Month a time of activities, festivals, photo contests, and exhibits. The celebrations have since taken on a new look in the digital age.
Photographs act like time machines. They give us a peek into our history, ancestry, and legacies from the past. Something as simple as looking at old photos can bring back a rush of memories. Historic photos, once preserved in museums and archives, capture iconic figures from history in the most important moments of their careers as well as in their unguarded moments. Photos help in creating legends out of regular people and also humanize those whom we think of as legends.
Through photographs, we can relive the most momentous achievements of humankind, such as astronaut Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. Similarly, photographs also capture the injustices of our world. Photographs of wars, prison camps, and illnesses serve as warnings to not repeat history and teach us to be kinder to fellow human beings. People do not only photograph for personal use, they photograph to remember a moment as it is — sometimes becoming the most genuine representation of a time. Photographs are perhaps one of the most reliable ways to document history, and National Photo Month is a celebration of this.
National Photo Month timeline
The first camera, created by George Eastman, is sold in the U.S. by Kodak for $25.
The first camera that generates photos instantly is developed.
The first truly portable digital camera hits the market.
The first phone with a camera, the Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210, is released.