The word 'photography' comes from the Greek words 'photos', meaning light, and 'graphé', meaning drawing. Literally, photography means 'drawing with light'.
The chemistry and technology of photography was developed from the late 18th century and in the first decades of the 19th century, photography was invented by several people in parallel in France, Germany and the UK, among others. The importance of photography in our culture can hardly be overstated. What was an analogue technology until the 1980s, and today is primarily a digital technology, has played a crucial role in science, journalism, popular culture, the legal system and the arts, as well as in the way people create and share personal memories.