5 Oldest Photographs Of All Time Reveal Compelling History

Engrossing stories behind world’s earliest known photographs.

These days we take photos for granted because of the ease of taking them, and especially after the advancements in the smartphone area, anyone with a phone can take pictures and store a small part of history in it.

Taking pictures was not as easy back in the day. Still, passionate photographers were on their feet, doing whatever they could to capture a moment that would be a part of history.

Things were much worse if one’s subject was a person. The subject had to stand for more than 15 minutes, and this was at the end of the 18th century.

The first photo that was ever let’s say, got printed took a whopping 8 hours — below you will find some of the oldest photographs that were ever taken.

1) 1826, The Oldest Photograph That Exists

The picture that you see above is the oldest known photograph in existence. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the photo in the year 1826.

The view from the window was captured using a type of photography known as heliography.

For this type of photography, a glass or a metal sheet was used, coated with Bitumen of Judea. When the light hit the surface, covered with Bitumen, the substance hardened, creating the image.

For this picture, Joseph allowed it to remain exposed for an incredible 8 hours.

One may say it is not clear enough to understand, well! Keep in mind this is the first ever photo you are talking about, not something refined over time.

The first ever photograph is displayed at the University of Texas in Austin at Harry Ransom Center.

2) 1838, Oldest Photograph Taken In The United States Of America

The picture you can see above is the oldest existing photograph taken in the United States Of America, and it is also the most senior photo of Philadelphia.

The photo was taken by Joseph Saxton, an amateur photographer, and inventor. This humble guy made a significant impact in the world of photography, and still, there is a gallery that honors Joseph Saxton’s work in Canton, Ohio.

The photograph is of a Central High School, which sits on the corner of Walnut and Juniper streets.

The image was taken using the daguerreotype method, taking more than 10 minutes to capture. This is one of the reasons you don’t see any people in it.

3) 1839, The Oldest Selfie

Well, you might think that the selfie is a modern-day phenomenon. If that is the case, then you are thinking wrong.

The first-ever selfie was taken in 1839 by a person known as Robert Cornelius, an amateur photographer and lamp maker.

After knowing this, you might be thinking how on earth he managed to take a selfie when the cameras were massive in the early 1800s.

Well, the answer is he placed the camera in the back of his family’s shop in Philadelphia.

He took the picture by opening the lens cap, running in front of the camera, and sitting there for a full minute before running back out of the frame and closing it. The result!! Voila!! The world’s first and oldest selfie.

4) 1843, Oldest Presidential Photo

Since the beginning of the presidential system in The United States Of America, every president gets an official portrait.

Before the invention of the camera, all the presidents were painted, from George Washington to James Monroe, all can be seen in paintings. This only changed after the cameras were good enough to capture the details.

When John Quincy Adams was around, photographing a president became possible, and the first-ever presidential photograph was taken.

The exciting part about the picture was that the photograph of John Quincy Adams was taken after he left the office, so late that John Tyler had already occupied the oval office.

The person who took the photo is not known. So what did Quincy think about his photograph? He said that it is Hideous and accurate to the original.

5) 1860, The Oldest Aerial Photograph

For us, aerial photographs are more than a norm. However, things were not this easy. They were crazy difficult in the mid to late 1800s.

The picture you see above was taken by James Wallace Black, who found a genius way to take it. The vehicle he chose to carry him high enough had to be stable and stationary sufficient to snap a picture without any blur.

James took this image from a hot air balloon 2000 feet above the ground, and as you can see, the photograph is amazingly crisp and has enough light to show every detail. James named the image Boston an eagle, and the wild goose sees it.

Final Words

Most of modern history is brought to us by photos. I am immensely thankful to the people who worked to develop picture qualities in the early years and obviously to the one who invented the camera itself.

If it wasn’t for these people, most of our modern history must have been unknown to us.

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