"Damien Hirst's auction" or "Hirst rhymes with first"

It's been almost a year since Damien Hirst's infamous auction took place at Sotheby's in London. Hirst is an interesting figure in the art world - his splashy work and astronomical prices have earned him a spot as one of the most loved and despised artists in the world. September 15, 2008, Sotheby's held a special two day sale of works by Hirst, which is nothing rare (I joke). However, it was incredibly rare, in fact the first time that a set of work went straight from an artist's studio to the auction block - no galleries, no exhibit, no public display. It was sensational. It angered many. It made a lot of people smile, and a lot more people curse his name.

First photographs

Although people were experimenting with primitive photography techniques, pin-hole cameras, camera obscuras, etc. for centuries, the first permanent photograph is said to have been created around 1825 by Nicéphore Niépce. Niépce referred to this type of images as heliographs (sun writings). Using a plate coated in bitumen, he exposed the plated with a camera obscura over an 8-hour period. After he washed the plate with lavender oil, the View from the Window at Le Gras appeared.

Currently, the original plate is on display at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, at the University of Texas at Austin.