Today in History 1838 - First Ever Photograph of a Person

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In early 1838, Louis Daguerre used his famous daguerreotype process of photography to snap a photo of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris. The streets in the photo appear deserted: this is because the exposure time for the photo was so long that the cars and trams could not be captured.

Thus only the man having his shoes shined and the shoeshiner were motionless enough to be caught. This is thus the first known photograph of a person.

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Louis Daguerre’s view of the Boulevard du Temple in the French capital was captured in 1838, using a method – the daguerreotype – that took around seven minutes to develop a single image.

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As with most daguerreotypes, that of Boulevard du Temple is a mirror image. It has been flipped at the top of the page to make a more direct comparison with today.

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The daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. The process required great care. The silver-plated copper plate had first to be cleaned and polished until the surface looked like a mirror. Next, the plate was sensitized in a closed box over iodine until it took on a yellow-rose appearance. The plate, held in a lightproof holder, was then transferred to the camera. After exposure to light, the plate was developed over hot mercury until an image appeared. To fix the image, the plate was immersed in a solution of sodium thiosulfate or salt and then toned with gold chloride.

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