Register

Art News: A 188-Year-Old Mystery Over Photography's First Human Subjects Has Been Solved

By David Schonauer   Thursday November 5, 2026

Above: The shoeshine boy and his customer in Daguerre’s 1838 photograph
___________________________________________

Recently, we noted that Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre’s 1838 photograph “Boulevard du Temple” is widely considered to be the first photograph to include an image of a human. But you have to look hard to see them.

At the time, …


Pro Photo Daily