1838: First photograph of a human

http://www.retronaut.com/2010/04/first-photograph-of-a-human/ ^ | April 12, 2010 | Chris

[zeestephen]

This picture, the earliest known photograph to include a recognizable human form, was taken in Paris, France, in 1838 by Louis Daguerre. The human in question is standing in the bottom-left of the photograph, on the pavement by the curve in the road. He is having his boots shined.

[Slings and Arrows]

You lied! You said it was a picture of a human!

[Dust in the Wind]

Aren't there two people sitting at a table to the shiner's right. Closer to the building; playing dominoes or chess or???

[zeestephen]

To add some historical context...

In 1837, Andrew Jackson was president.

In 1838, Samuel Morse first demonstrated the telegraph.

In 1838, Queen Victoria was coronated at age 18.

[workerbee]

The article says it was a fashionable area, but it looks utterly depressing to me. Hopefully it wasn’t so bad in person.

[workerbee]

Baby carriage.

[zeestephen]

Very clever, very funny.

Thanks for reminding us that not everything improves with age.

[RedMDer]

Snip:
The exposure time for the image was around seven minutes, and although the street would have been busy with traffic and pedestrians, it appears deserted. Everything moving was too fast to register on the plate.
The exception is the man at the lower-left who sat still long enough to appear in the photograph. The person cleaning his boots is also visible, although not as distinctly.

Very interesting.

[GeronL]

lol

[bunkerhill7]

Witch on a broom extreme right hand upper corner

[ansel12]

In vibrant color it may have looked great, even the trees look depressing, and in reality they probably looked green and plush.

[trisham]

I love the architecture and all of the trees.

[fieldmarshaldj]

7 minutes for a shoe-shine ?

[Slings and Arrows]

It’s not funny if it’s not true!

[GeronL]

is there no baby in that carriage? the blur next to it could be mom!

[Opinionated Blowhard]

LOL. I knew that was coming.

[US_MilitaryRules]

Which one?

[Inyo-Mono]

Thanks for posting this!

[dfwgator]

Shocked it took 8 posts.

[Dust in the Wind]

Ok

[yarddog]

I have seen this picture before. The thing which is surprising to me is the lens is reasonably sharp.