This study was performed to determine the historical development of the techniques used to represent the pathologic conditions of the tympanic membrane. The first coloured attempts were the drawings of Adam Politzer in 1865. Over the following 50 years other otologists produced their own atlases of drawings. At the beginning of the 20th century some otologists tried to photograph the tympanic membrane but without success. This method was progressively improved and by 1960 two techniques were used: through a speculum or with a microscope. The quality was not optimal, and for this reason, atlases produced during this period were with retouched or water-coloured photographs. It was with the discovery of new endoscopic fibres at the beginning of the 1960s that endoscopic photography progressively replaced all other methods. The precision of these pictures is very important for improving the quality of teaching of the different tympanic membrane pathology.