While we learn about history through reading texts and manuscripts, photography is another important way we can study the past. The oldest photos ever taken give us a glimpse into what the world was like over a century ago. While German professor Johann Heinrich Schulze is often cited as the first person to stumble upon the idea of photography in 1717 (although there is evidence Han Chinese philosopher Mozi wrote about the process in 400 BC), it wasn’t until the 18th century when the first camera was constructed.
Louis Le Prince, Louis Daguerre, and Johann Zahn are all credited with the creation of photography and the camera, but the man who successfully captured the first known photo still in existence was Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. His image of a nearby estate was said to have been shot in 1826 or 1827. It was still some time before cameras became accessible to the public in 1888, but during the 19th century, there were many incredible photographs that captured the world around us.
These images recorded historic moments in time and ranged from self-portraits to snaps of famous landmarks and buildings. We have certainly come a long way from the bulky cameras of the 1800s to the modern phone camera that allows you to upload your latest photo to Instagram in a matter of seconds.
Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and learn about some of the oldest photos ever taken and the stories behind them.
15 of the Oldest Photos Ever Taken
1. The World’s First Ever Photograph
Ok, first might be a stretch, but this is the oldest photo in human history that still exists today. Taken by French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827, it shows the view of Niépce’s estate in Burgundy from the second-story bedroom of his home. It’s hard to make out anything from this historic photograph that is now part of a permanent collection at the University of Texas-Austin.
2. The World’s First Ever Selfie
Robert Cornelius was the man known to have taken the first-ever self-portrait with a camera. Captured using a quarter plate daguerreotype, it is the oldest photograph someone has ever taken of themselves. Cornelius was an American photographer who helped pioneer the profession, opening two of the earliest photography studios in the United States between 1841 and 1843.
Taking the self-portrait required Cornelius to sit still for between ten and 15 minutes while he waited for his image to be taken. Just a few months after the photo went global, Frenchman Hippolyte Bayard took his own selfie that became another step forward in the world of photography.
3. Earliest Known Photograph of the White House
John Plumbe Jr./Library of Congress
Shot by John Plumbe Jr. in 1846, this is the oldest known photo taken of the White House. James K. Polk was president at the time, with the shadows seen on the photograph indicating it was taken sometime in the early morning. You can also see trees in the background and small lumps of snow near the steps leading up to the entrance of the Oval Office.
4. The Oldest Photo of New York
Unknown (Public Domain)
This photo of New York was taken in 1848 and is a daguerreotype of Manhattan’s Upper West side. Nobody knows who took this photograph that shows a house on a hill with a white picket fence. It’s believed the house is located next to the old Bloomingdale Road.
The image was sold at auction in 2009 to Billy and Jennifer Frist of Nashville for a cool $62,500. “It’s a very unique, historically significant daguerreotype,” said Billy First after winning the auction.
5. The First Photograph of the Moon
John W. Draper (Public Domain)
It wasn’t just people and places that earlier photographers were looking to capture. Astronomer John W. Draper turned his camera to the sky and took this spectacular image of the Moon in 1940. While it looks more like a photo gone bad, it is in fact a picture of the Moon caught using a daguerreotype while Draper was at his rooftop observatory at New York University.
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6. Louis Daguerre
Jean-Baptiste Sabatier-Blot/Wikimedia Commons
While Joseph Nicéphore Niépce gets credited with coming up with the heliographic technique and the first form of workable camera, his idea was expanded upon and bettered by Louis Daguerre. His daguerreotype technique used silver iodide plates and mercury fumes to create more realistic photos, such as the one above. The photo is a portrait of Daguerre shot by his friend Jean-Baptiste Sabatier-Blot, a French painter and fellow photography enthusiast.
7. View From Louis Daguerre’s Home
Louis Daguerre (Public Domain)
As well as getting people to take portraits of himself, Louis Daguerre was continually photographing the world around him. This photo, dating back to 1838, is an image of his street. You can clearly see the outline of the buildings and the trees to the left of the image.
8. Boulevard du Temple
Another city landscape shot by Louis Daguerre, this one is much clearer than the previous photo. What makes this photo stand out from others taken around 1838 is that it is the earliest photograph to feature people. To the left of the image are two men, with one shining the shoes of the other. Normally a busy street, due to the exposure taking ten minutes much of the traffic had passed when the photo was finally captured.
As well as being the first photo with people in it, this is the first photograph ever taken of Paris. It is of the famous Boulevard du Temple in the 3rd arrondissement.
9. The Oldest Photo of a President
Shot by Philip Haas, this photo shows John Quincy Adams, the first president of the United States, relaxing at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts. The photo was taken in 1843, some 14 years after Adams had left office. Although not smiling, something few people did in early photos, Adams seems relaxed sitting in a chair by the fireplace.
10. The Oldest Photo of a Sitting President
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The first president to have been photographed may have been John Quincy Adams, but William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, was the first man in the Oval Office to officially have his picture taken.
While the exact date of the photo is unknown, Harrison only spent 30 days as president, passing away on April 4, 1841, due to pneumonia. The image above isn’t the original photo either, as that was lost. It is a daguerreotype of the original photo that was shot in 1850.
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11. First Photo of War
Carol Popp de Szathmari (Public Domain)
Carol Popp de Szathmari was a well-known war photographer who documented the Crimean War. He took hundreds of photos during the war, and while there were many others who did the same, the above image is believed to be the first showing an actual battle. At that time most photos were taken before or after the fighting.
Taken in 1870, the photo clearly shows a regiment of Prussian troops running toward the French soldiers where de Szathmari was operating from.
12. The Oldest Known Photograph of Abraham Lincoln
One of the great presidents who abolished slavery and led social change, Abraham Lincoln was photographed often during his time in office. The earliest photo to feature the 16th president was actually taken several years before he made it to the White House.
Nicholas H. Shepherd took a photo of a posing Lincoln when he was elected from Illinois to the U.S. Congress in 1846 or 1847. Lincoln was 37 at the time and just beginning his journey that would see him enter the history books and go down as one of the great American leaders.
13. The First Photo of the Sun
After immortalizing the Moon in photo form, French physicists Louis Fizeau and Leon Foucault decided it was the Sun’s time to shine. Taken on April 2, 1845, in Paris, France, the black and white photo could easily be mistaken for the Moon, although you can see a few sunspots that differentiate the two.
14. The First Photo of the North Pole
Robert E. Peary/Wikimedia Commons
Admiral Robert E. Peary was an explorer who made several trips to the Arctic in the 19th and 20th centuries. He’s also known for taking the first photo of the North Pole. In the image, you can see five people holding various flags. They are Ooqueh, holding the Navy League flag; Ootah, holding the D.K.E. fraternity flag; Matthew Henson, holding the polar flag; Egingwah, holding the D.A.R. peace flag; and Seeglo, holding the Red Cross flag. The photo was dated April 7, 1909.
15. The First Color Photo
Photography took a major step forward when color photos were invented. The first color photo was created by mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1861. To create the colorful image he shot a tartan ribbon through red, blue, and yellow filters. He then made a composite of the three photos to create the image you see above. Pretty impressive.
The three photographic plates he used for the photo are now kept in a small museum at 14 India Street, Edinburgh, the house where Maxwell was born.