In 1816, inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce made the first paper photographs. Almost half a century later, the first photo studio opened in Penza, located at number 10 on Rozhdestvenskaya Street, now Gorky Street. It was based at the Art School of Kuzma Makarov and was considered a prestigious and expensive establishment. At that time, photographs were very costly, so the owners mostly served wealthy clients. At the request of the customer, the photos could be colored: monochrome images were tinted with watercolor, and portraits took on the appearance of real paintings. Ivan Makarov wrote about his enterprise: "Jokingly and unnoticed, my brother Yakov mastered the art of photography that he loved. In his bedroom, a photo laboratory was set up, where he would spend whole days under red light. However, when circumstances required, Yakov would leave the laboratory and take up a brush and palette." In addition, the Makarov family was involved in painting the walls of the Spassky Cathedral. Over time, the first photo studio in Penza began to incur losses. By the 1870s, it was being pushed out by numerous competitors. Unable to withstand the competition, the Makarov brothers were forced to close their enterprise. During the Soviet era, their wooden building was demolished, and a residential building was constructed in its place.