Early Photographs of Animals at Night

Early 20th century photographer, George Shiras, is credited with taking the first-ever nighttime wildlife photographs using a hunting trick from the Objibwa called “jacklighting”. He focused a gaslight on Canadian and US shores to capture the attention of the forest animals. He also developed remote-triggering snares that used a trip wire to activate a magnesium flash gun to capture animals in action, in the depths of the wood. His wildlife images were the first to use both flash photography and camera trap equipment.

Images from George Shiras: In the Heart of the Dark Night, by Jean-Christophe Bailly from Editions Xavier Barral.

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