World’s oldest photograph of a human being …
This is one of the, if not the, oldest known photograph of a human being in existence. It depends on how one defines photograph, but this was taken by Louis Jacques-Mande Daguerre in 1838. (The fellow the daguerreotype was named after.) This is a photo of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris. This is a busy street and there was tons of traffic, but since the exposure was so long, about 15-20 minutes, none of the moving figures can be seen. The only people visible are a guy getting his boots polished and the bootblack. Who was this nameless gentleman or the bootblack? No one knows. I’m sure they never imagined that they had been immortalized, albeit anonymously, by a clever scientist testing his newly discovered method of preserving moments in time.
It was a different world then. The only motorized transportation was the railroad, and even it was in its infancy. Horses and sailing ships were still the primary means of getting around, the typical person probably never travelled more than 50 miles from where they were born. The first Atlantic steamship service started this year though, so the future was on the way. The telegraph had been invented, but the first commercial telegraph operations were a year away. There were commercial semaphore telegraphs operating, so it was possible to send a message over some distance for a price.
The first accurate measurement of the distance to a nearby star was calculated in 1838, the intellectuals were beginning to grasp just how big the universe really was. Though the discovery that there were other galaxies besides our own was still decades away. The first mass produced clocks were flooding markets in England and America, for the first time commoners could have a clock in their homes. Though it would be some decades before the time zone was invented, so clocks were set to local noon. They were the PCs of their day no doubt. What we would call a modern bicycle was still a year away, the bicycles of the era were propelled by pushing the ground with one’s feet. Gads.
Napoleon was still on everyone’s minds no doubt, the way Hitler is now the demon du jour, having been defeated less than three decades before. Slavery had been abolished in most of the civilized world, with the exception of the USA. In England Queen Victoria’s reign began the year before. I’m sure no one guessed she would reign until 1901, 63 years, the longest reign of any British Monarch. I doubt she or anyone guessed at the changes that would take place in her lifetime. And neither Germany nor Italy existed yet yet, both were a dozen or more smaller independent nations.
Here is a map of Europe in 1815. It would have looked the same in 1838 if I am not mistaken. America was a lot smaller then too, and Texas was an independent nation. In any event, nothing particularly profound about this post. I am just trying to share my love of history in general and old photographs in particular. (I’ve linked to this before, but here again is a lovely site about the history of photography.) Every age thinks it is at the end of history, and at the time, they were.
For first time readers, welcome to Doug’s Darkworld. This post is one of my most popular posts of all time, if you liked it you might also like The World’s First Eyewitness, World’s First Colour Photograph, and The World’s First Photograph.
(The above image, having been taken in 1838, is public domain under US law.)
Hey that guy owes me money ! Seriously though I like this post,as w/ many of yours. The style the varied subject matter the brain jarring reminders to history I learned and loved at one time.Thanks and take care.
in2thefray
June 14, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Good post — a pleasure to read.
Stephen
June 14, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I enjoyed this post immensely. The photograph itself is quite stunning and mysterious – truly a wink in time (albeit a long wink). I actually lived two streets down from that road around 1986, and recognized the neighborhood immediately… the main thouroughfares of Paris change very slowly. As the French are very much dandies, the significance of the bootblack and client are particularly poingant and appropriate for the first photo of a human in that extraordinary city. Thank you for your post, it was most enriching.
Diane
June 20, 2007 at 12:39 am
Thank you for this terrific and thoughtful post. It’s very generous of you to take you time to share this. What a fascinating picture. Oh, and people really were smaller, then! ;o)
Mike
September 15, 2007 at 5:54 pm
nice post.
heres another interesting question.who was the earliest born person ever documented on a photo?
i had found some interesting revolutionary war vets photos posted awhile back,some that came from a book published in the mid 19th century of those vets.some were born about 1750! if these were the earliest ,that means then by other than time travel,no one born before them ever was recorded photographically.i also would like to know similarly on moving film.what old guys did edison film,who were they and how old.i wonder if he filmed anyone over 100 years old in the 1890s,which would make them from the 18th century on film.mind blowing.i’d kill to see lincoln on film and washington in a photo,let alone a movie! so what we need to do is invent time travel,,or rely on any aliens recordings if possible.
john
October 27, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I posted the same question on http://www.neatorama.com/2006/08/29/the-wonderful-world-of-early-photography We have discussed this on a Swedish historical forum called forum.skalman.nu.
The earliest born person we have found (so far) that we are sure to have been documented on a photo, is the German physician Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) (see the photo on: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hahnemann).
We have also found pictures of Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) and John Leland (1754-1841), but these pictures don’t really look like photos, perhaps they’re based on photos?
Anders
November 28, 2007 at 7:07 am
Check out this page:
http://www.historicamericanprints.com/history.htm
It seems that a Conrad Heyer born in 1749 was photopraphed in old age(he was a 107 when he died).
Tom
December 3, 2007 at 9:18 am
[...] written the first photograph of a human being, here is another old photograph that has historical significance in an obscure way. The fine [...]
The World’s First Eyewitness? « Doug’s Darkworld
January 8, 2008 at 9:53 am
There is one small difference in the maps: Belgium separated from Netherlands.
Vjacheslav
March 26, 2008 at 11:42 am
Hi,
I love photography, is it the oldes one
Shashank Saxena
August 5, 2008 at 8:06 am
Between 1815 and 1838, Belgium was separated from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, Greece secceded from the Ottoman Empire, and I believe Poland was completely taken over by Russia.
Other than that, a very inspiring article.
Josh
November 20, 2008 at 6:32 am
Stumbled across this when googling “world’s oldest photograph”. Great stuff, very interesting & informative.
Cheers,
Neal
November 26, 2008 at 4:31 am
[...] تصویر فوق عکس پرستشگاهی را در یک بلوار در پاریس نشان می دهد. Tags: daguerreotype, عکس [...]
قدیمی ترین عکس گرفته شده از انسان « Mr’James
December 6, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Hey : ) Have I missunderstood or is this a real photograph? I know it says so, but it looks pretty much like a drawing to me.
Anders
December 7, 2008 at 12:23 pm
It looks like parts on the left have been drawn & the house appears to me later eighteen hundreds early nineteen centery.
Joaquin Kiffe Ferguson
October 30, 2009 at 10:35 pm
IF it is real …very interesting….I am searching for more…thanks
jaganmohan
December 29, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Wow, that is incredible. It is amazing how clear and clean some parts of it are despite the long exposure and moving subjects.
Gregg
April 9, 2009 at 3:08 pm
good to see the oldest photograph ever taken by human being.
Vijayendra
September 4, 2009 at 2:46 am
[...] a continuation of my world’s first photograph series, reproduced above is one of the world’s first known colour photographs. It is titled [...]
World’s First Colour Photograph « Doug’s Darkworld
November 30, 2009 at 7:30 am
Really a nice post! The map of Europe in 1838 wasn’t the same with this of 1815, because in 1821 the Greek Revolution took place. So, in 1838 existed the Kingdom of Greece, with King Otto.
Theodore
December 4, 2009 at 8:44 am
I can’t seem to make out the humans.. but nice.
Ataxia
December 19, 2009 at 7:31 am
Mesmerizing. The closest i can get to looking back in time. Provides all kinds of thoughts, like what was going on that day? What was it like to be there? I could still see the Tasmanian tiger and maybe some other extinct animals then… and find the over 430 something foot tree in southern Australia. What did my neighborhood look like in upstate N.Y.? Will someone look at a photo of me someday and wonder the same things 172 years or more from now? Old photos make me want to visit there/then…
Erik
March 1, 2010 at 1:56 am
Wow that’s too cool, to bad the persons name is lost to time.
comrick317
March 21, 2010 at 9:31 pm
In 1838 Poland already was partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria sinse 43 years. Poland will regaine indepence in 1918, after 123 years of captivity.
peter_1000
May 12, 2010 at 1:50 pm
wow its wonderful.. i m a history lover. so i love this photo. that gentleman never knew that he will be watched by the the people from 21st century.. if i could see his face.. and if i could know more about him.. its a pity that he didnt know his luck.
thanks a lot for sharing such wonderful things. u have a great choice. hope to see more..
chathurika
May 15, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Why wouldn’t it be taken by a human? Animals can’t take photos
John
June 6, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Heard about the first human being photographed when I visited Barkerville, BC in Canada on my holidays this year. Very interesting and it looks just like it was explained to me. Ever want to go back in time you just need to go to Barkerville for a few days!! Very interesting.
Liz
August 12, 2010 at 1:01 pm
The photo is not the oldest ever.it is belived to be a photo taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. An 1837 daguerreotype by Daguerre, the first to complete the full process.
jfdjw
September 11, 2010 at 7:54 am
This photo is amazing considering it was taken almost 200 years ago. I wish I could go back in time and experience life there at that time in history
Denny
October 25, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Love this post. In fact, love all your posts. There is a fringe school of thought that claims the shroud of Turin is a sort of photograph on fabric attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci. Obviously further -unlikely- tests would be needed.
Anyway, love your posts. thanks for posting
Adriana
October 28, 2010 at 12:57 pm
This is an amazing picture and it’s funny to think that almost 200 years ago, someone was being photographed. It’s almost eerie. It almost looks like there is a child peering through one of the top windows in the building. Does anybody else see it?
mel mccleskey
October 28, 2010 at 6:21 pm
Or perhaps, it’s just a ghost! In that case, that becomes the first ever ghost to be photographed! ;)
Rohit
July 11, 2011 at 11:12 am
[...] GizmodoEs y Unitedcats Foto Flickr y Wikipedia Entradas Recargadas19 septiembre 2010 — Perú pudo evitar el ataque [...]
El primer humano en ser fotografiado | WwW.GiaReloaded.Com
November 2, 2010 at 7:34 pm
To think we are seeing a photo of someone most likely born in the 1700′s!! fascinating to say the least.
Mike
November 5, 2010 at 9:39 am
[...] people across time. There’s a photograph from 1838 which is currently recognized as the first photo of a human. It appears to be a man getting his shoe shined. This is incidental to the rest of the image, [...]
The Fascination of History
December 14, 2010 at 9:39 am
[...] Starters Guide to Photography Fundamentals Posted by BrianNotess on Dec 15, 2010Since the early 1800s humankind has been trying to transfer visual experiences into physical (and later) digital images. [...]
New Photographer? Starters Guide to Photography Fundamentals | ChurchCreate
December 15, 2010 at 1:12 pm
This is a really gay website… Just saying!
Shelby
April 20, 2011 at 11:42 am
who can see peter pan ? i can see him
ShevooZaxoo
January 17, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Great post ! I am a parisian and I used to leave a few streets away from boulevard du temple on rue de bretagne. I knew about this picture and I absolutely enjoyed your commentaries. It is very moving to see a glimpse of what life would have been almost 2 centuries ago and to see this 2 unidentified persons, so mysterious.
amazinggraceparis
February 17, 2012 at 3:23 am
Excellent goods from you, man. I’ve be mindful your stuff prior to and you’re simply extremely excellent. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you’re stating and the way in which during which you are saying it. You’re making it entertaining and you continue to care for to stay it wise. I can not wait to read far more from you. That is actually a great web site.
Queen Sheets
April 12, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Do you know when this photo is taken?:
http://syiarislam.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/muhammadbinabdulwahab.jpg
One of the people there, Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab was live from 1701 to 1793 M. So if it’s true, then the photo above is the oldest photo that ever exist….
If it’s not real, then whose photo is it?
A Nizami
April 23, 2012 at 11:45 pm