Lumiere brothers Louis and Auguste were sons born of the extremely well known portrait painter Antoine Lumiere. These brothers were born in France in 1862 and 1864 and moved to Lyon in 1870. Both boys attended the largest technical school in the area, La Martiniere. Antoine, their father, ran a photographic firm. Both boys worked under him, Auguste serving as a manager and Louis as a physicist. Louis worked hard making improvements to the photographic process. his most notable invention was the dry-plate process which contributed greatly to the possibility of moving images.

After their father's retirement in 1892, the brothers began to work towards creating moving pictures. The brothers patented a number of processes and significant ideas that led up to the creation of their first film camera. The most important of the processes was the film perforations as a method of advancing film through the projector and camera. The cinematographic machine was patented on February 13, 1895. The first footage ever recovered was recorded on March 19, 1895 and shows factory workers exiting the Lumiere's factory.

The first private screening of these motion pictures was held by the brothers in 1895. The first public screening was held on the 28th of December in 1895 at the Salon Indien du Grand Cafe in Paris, France and charged admission. This screening showed ten short films, such as their first film, Sortie des Usines Lumiere a Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory). Each film was an astounding seventeen meters long which runs for approximately 50 seconds when hand-cranked through the film projector. Other films at this first presentation included La Mer (the sea), Le Jardinier (The Gardener) and La Peche aux poissons rouges (Fishing for Goldfish). The Lumiere Brother's images immediately influenced popular culture, particularly the image of the train arriving at the station. Their films are often referred to as the first form of documentary and they also took the first steps towards comedic film utilizing slapstick humor in L'Arroseur Arrose. The Lumiere Brothers had a long-lasting effect on film thanks to their wonderful inventions.