Tuesday, August 19, 2014

First photo of a human being

In our modern world of cheap senseless selfies and trashy paparazzi images, it’s nice to be able to look back at the first fellow who happened to get stuck on the wrong side of a photographer’s lens.

Click to enlarge slightly.

This image was taken by Louis Daguerre in 1838 or 1839 in the Boulevard du Temple, Paris.

Thank God (for posterity) that nothing proves that the subject might or might not have been taking a leak with one leg raised upon a fountain, in the doggy style of our distinguished Aussie PM Tony Abbott.


Thank God, too, that the nasty Photoshop product had not yet been invented.

5 comments:

  1. Many people and cars were on the other side of the lense but only two living figures are capured here. The man is having his boots polished by a shoesiner, both visible. The ten minute exposure time of the shot meant that only those two figures stayed till long enough to be picked up by the camera.

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    1. Now that you explain it, several mysteries are cleared up. I found it hard to imagine that a street in Paris could be so empty. Thanks for your easy-to-understand explanations.

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  2. Toujours, en regardant cette photo, je me demande si avec les nouvelles techniques numériques on ne pourrait peut-être trouver un nouvel individu sur un balcon, ou devant une des boutiques du côté gauche.Peut -être quelqu'un d'autre se serait arrêté, ou assis, qui sait. (Bon bref, j'adore imaginer ce qui ne sert à rien)

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  3. Oui je suis d'accord. La nouvelle technologie est puissante. Nous pouvons peut-être trouver plus sur cette photo.

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  4. Bienvenue au blog Antipodes, Sol ! Nous nous connaissons déjà. Vous êtes Argentine, et visiblement sur la même longueur d’onde que moi. Bienvenue également à David, qui a déjà fait des remarques pertinentes au sujet de cette fameuse photo.

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