In 1826 or 1827 the French amateur inventor Nicéphore Niépce created the first permanent photograph using a process he called heliography. The method involved applying a light-sensitive bitumen solution over a polished pewter plate, placing the plate into a small camera obscura, and then positioning the camera obscura near a window. After exposing the plate to sunlight for several hours or possibly days, Niépce captured a black-and-white image of the view outside the window: the courtyard of his country estate, Le Gras. Niépce acknowledged that heliography needed improvement and partnered with Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, a professional scene painter for the theater, to perfect the process.