Getting His Shoes Shined
Louis Daguerre’s 1838 photograph, the first-ever to feature a person, is a true marvel of photographic history. In the photo, a man can be seen getting his shoes shined on a busy Parisian street, frozen in time by Daguerre’s groundbreaking technique. Of course, the man in the photo was likely just as amazed by the new technology as we are today – imagine having your picture taken and then finding out that it’s going to be famous for centuries to come!
We can only hope that his shoes were as polished as his place in history. It’s amazing to think how far photography has come since that first photograph was taken, from daguerreotypes to Instagram selfies. But we’ll never forget the humble beginnings of photography – or the stylish shoe-shiner who helped make it all possible.