It is an honour for me to be able to present this review of photography in wide-field astronomy. Let me begin by assuring this distinguished audience that this talk is not some sort of sentimental tribute to a redundant technology. Although photography may be the oldest way of accurately recording images of stars and galaxies it is still the most powerful tool which we possess for surveying the sky on the world's large Schmidt telescopes. Indeed, if the full promise of Tech Pan film is realised (and there will be more on that subject from Dr. Parker later today), photography in its ‘old’ age may extend in its usefulness well into the next century. So, far from being on its last legs, photography is just reaching its maturity, though not without something of a mid-life crisis.