About World Photography Day
World Photography Day is observed on 19 August, the date in 1839 when the French government released the daguerreotype process to the world free of patent. The modern observance was pushed by the Delhi photographer O. P. Sharma, whose Indian International Photographic Council first marked it in 1991, and it spread online from 2010. In 2027 it falls on Thursday, 19 August 2027.
Most people in India now carry a camera everywhere and think about it less than any generation before. World Photography Day is a reasonable excuse to look at what you have actually made with it, and at the people who made pictures when film cost money and mistakes were permanent.
Why is World Photography Day on 19 August?
World Photography Day is on 19 August because of what happened on that date in 1839 in Paris. The astronomer François Arago explained the daguerreotype process, step by step, before a joint session of the Académie des Sciences and the Académie des Beaux-Arts, with a crowd spilling into the courtyard. The French government had bought the rights from Louis Daguerre and from Isidore Niépce, son of Daguerre's late partner, in exchange for lifetime pensions, and it then released the process to the world free of patent.
That is the only photographic process ever given away by a state. Britain was the exception: Daguerre had a patent taken out there days earlier, so British photographers had to pay.
Who started World Photography Day, and what is the Indian link?
The Indian link is the part most articles miss. O. P. Sharma, a Delhi photographer and teacher who founded the Indian International Photographic Council, came across the 19 August 1839 date in 1988 and argued it deserved to be a world day for photography. His council held the first observance in 1991, and he then persuaded international bodies, including the Photographic Society of America and the Royal Photographic Society in Britain, to recognise it.
The day spread far wider after 2010, when the Australian photographer Korske Ara ran an online project asking photographers everywhere to share one image on the same day. Between the two efforts, the date became the one most of the world now uses.
Which Indian photographers should you know on World Photography Day?
India's photographic record runs from the 1850s to the phone in your pocket, and a handful of names carry most of it.
| Photographer | Years | Why they matter |
|---|---|---|
| Lala Deen Dayal | 1844 to 1905 | Court photographer to the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad and photographer to the Viceroy from 1885; his studios in Indore, Bombay and Hyderabad produced around 30,000 images of princely India |
| Homai Vyarawalla | 1913 to 2012 | India's first woman photojournalist, working from 1938; photographed the transfer of power and the Nehru years, often published under a male byline early on; awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2011 |
| Raghu Rai | 1942 to 2026 | Took up photography in 1965, chief photographer at The Statesman from 1966, picture editor at India Today through the 1980s; nominated to Magnum Photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson and joined in 1977, the first Indian member; Padma Shri in 1972 |
| Sunil Janah | 1918 to 2012 | Born in Assam, based in Calcutta; his eye-witness pictures of the Bengal famine of 1943 circulated in India and abroad, and he later photographed labour, industry and Adivasi life |
| Dayanita Singh | born 1961 in Delhi | Trained at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad; works mainly in book form rather than prints, which changed how Indian photography is published |
Raghu Rai's photographs of the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984, made for The Times of India and returned to for decades afterwards, remain the images most Indians associate with that night. He died on 26 April 2026, aged 83.
A photograph has picked up a fact of life, and that fact will live forever.
How to mark World Photography Day
It is a working day with no official programme. Camera clubs, colleges and photo festivals run exhibitions, walks and print sales. The most useful things are small and personal.
Do
- Print something. A photograph that exists only on a phone usually disappears with the phone.
- Sit with an older relative and put names and years on the family album before nobody remembers.
- Ask permission before photographing people, especially at work, in villages and at religious sites.
- Credit photographers by name when you share their work, and link the original.
Avoid
- Don't photograph inside museums, temples or memorials where signs forbid it, and don't use flash near old textiles or paintings.
- Avoid cropping out a watermark or byline; that is theft, not editing.
- Don't ask a professional photographer to work an event "for exposure".
- Avoid photographing children who are not yours without a parent's clear consent.
What to write on World Photography Day
Happy World Photography Day. That frame you took of the tea stall in the rain is still my phone wallpaper. Print it and I'll pay for it.
Happy Photography Day, Papa. You took every photo in our house and you're in almost none of them. Come here, I'm fixing that today.
Happy World Photography Day. Sending you two enquiries instead of a greeting, because that's the more useful thing. Rates as usual?
It's World Photography Day. Take it off auto for one week and show me the worst pictures you make. That's where it starts.
Happy World Photography Day. I found the photo from the Goa trip, the blurred one where nobody is ready. Best picture we ever took.
Wishing you a good World Photography Day. Shoot one subject for a month instead of a hundred subjects in a day. The month will teach you more.
The same interest in looking after images and objects runs through World Heritage Day on 18 April and International Museum Day on 18 May, both of which involve photographic archives in India.
How to wish someone on World Photography Day
A good World Photography Day message sends a photograph. Pick one the person took, or one you took of them, and say what you remember about that day. For a working photographer, credit and paid work matter more than compliments, so recommending them or naming them in a post is the better wish. Avoid messages implying that a good camera makes a good photographer.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.
When is World Photography Day in 2026 and 2027?
World Photography Day is on 19 Aug every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is World Photography Day in 2027?
World Photography Day 2027 falls on Thursday, 19 August 2027.
Why is World Photography Day celebrated on 19 August?
World Photography Day marks 19 August 1839, when the daguerreotype process was explained in public before the French Académie des Sciences and the French government released it to the world free of patent, having paid Louis Daguerre and Isidore Niépce lifetime pensions for the rights.
Who founded World Photography Day?
The modern observance was initiated by the Delhi photographer O. P. Sharma, who identified the 19 August date in 1988 and held the first celebration in 1991 through the Indian International Photographic Council he founded. The Australian photographer Korske Ara spread it globally with an online project in 2010.
Who was India's first woman photojournalist?
Homai Vyarawalla, who began press photography in 1938 and worked for more than three decades, is regarded as India's first woman photojournalist. Her early pictures appeared under her husband's name, and she was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2011, a year before her death.
Who was the first Indian member of Magnum Photos?
Raghu Rai was the first Indian photographer in Magnum Photos. Henri Cartier-Bresson saw his work in Paris in 1972 and nominated him, and Rai joined the agency in 1977.
What is the polite rule for photographing people in India?
Ask first, show the picture afterwards, and stop when someone says no. Be especially careful at religious sites, funerals, hospitals, tribal villages and with children, where photography without consent can be intrusive and in some places is restricted by law or by local rules.
Last verified by the Kehdoo team on .