This astonishing image has to rank amongst the 100 greatest photographs of all time …
Boulevard du Temple, Paris, eight in the morning (1838?)
It is a daguerrotype, an image recorded on a sheet of copper coated with silver and developed by mercury fumes. Ironically the hour at which it was taken is known, but the year is not. It was either 1838 or 1839.
At first glance this may seem like a rather ordinary … even boring … subject. And it’s badly scratched too. Aren’t I saying its so great, simply because its so old?
No.
Look carefully to the bottom left. There you will see two human figures, a customer having his shoes polished by a bootblack. These two unknown characters were the first humans to be photographed. Their simple, everyday transaction has made them immortal.
How come there is no one else in the image? Weren’t the streets of Paris busy at that time?
They were. But Daguerre would have had to use an exposure of 10-15 minutes to get this image. So all the other Parisians, bustling back and forth, have not come out.
All the commentaries on this photograph that I have read speculate that these two were probably unaware that they were being recorded. And they say that Daguerre knew neither of them. One photo-historian writes, “He (Daguerre) quite possibly didn’t notice them as he focused his camera, but his plate remained true to nature, and one can imagine his delight when the mercury fumes revealed their presence during development.”
I wonder.
Daguerre would have known that people moving about would not record on his plate and I have a sneaking suspicion he planted these two. Apart from anything else, who has one shoe polished for 10 to 15 minutes? Then it’s a slightly odd place for a bootblack to set up business, right on a corner, close to the kerb, and directly in the path of people walking up and down the road.
Finally, these two are very conveniently placed close to the classic compositional ‘thirds’ position.
I think that it has been set up … not that this detracts from the image in any way. Those two make the picture. I’m guessing that Daguerre knew a thing or two about composition as well as developing plates with mercury fumes. He knew that a ‘heartbeat’ would improve his image. But he couldn’t just have a person or two standing motionless on the street corner. Apart from the fact that it would look odd to passers-by, it would also look odd on the image. So, get them to do something, and what more natural than a shoe shine?
In a further bizarre twist of fate, this image has been saved for us by an invention of Daguerre’s rival, William Henry Fox Talbot. Fox Talbot invented the calotype which was the precursor of modern film photography. (Film photography replaced the daguerrotype process and made it obsolete.)
Whilst this daguerrotype was display in a museum in Munich, in 1937, an eminent photo-historian, Beaumont Newhall commissioned a very high-quality photograph of it … using photographic film of course.
Subsequently, Daguerre’s picture survived the bombings of Munich in 1940 but, shortly after the war, an over-zealous museum curator attempted to clean it. The mercury amalgamated to the silver was incredibly fragile – likened to the powdery scales on a butterfly’s wings – and the hapless curator wiped the whole thing clean.
But Beaumont Newhall’s photograph of it survived. And a replica daguerrotype could be made.
An amazing story around a truly great photograph.
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That’s an amazing story! I’d seen the photo before, but never really thought about the figures in it. And the follow-up is extraordinary too. Thanks for telling it.
Thanks Jim. Glad you got something extra out of it.
Cheers
Alistair
Interesting photo! I wish I could get this photo reproduction for history education. Could anyone please find an exact current location on Boulevard du Temple in Paris that Louis Daguerre took this photo of three humans on the sidewalk and street in 1838 or 1839? Where could I buy Louis Daguerre’s Paris Photography books? Thanks
Thanks James … you’ll have to ask someone who lives in Paris to find the exact spot. And maybe they could tell you where to find the books you’re looking for. Sorry I can’t help you. I’ve never heard of them.
Thanks for the comment. I have been looking for the exact spot where the buildings and 5 people were shown on this photo on the Google Map website and it is very hard to recognize the today’s buildings that Daugerre took this photo in 1838 or 1839. This photo is located in the third district or third arrondissement of Paris. Maybe the original buildings in this photo are still there today but could not find the exact location where the buildings and 5 people were shown, but I will try to contact the photography museum in Paris about this. Did you notice a little boy on the third or fourth floor in the white apartment building on the right pulling the curtain by the window and looking out? What a real Parisian life in the 1830s! Imagine this photo they had no refrigerators, electricity, telephones, televisions, etcetera in their apartments during that time!
And thanks for trying to identify the exact spot from which this image was created, James. Well done for your attempts, and keep us posted on your discoveries! It would be doubly fascinating to go there (if possible) and take a shot from exactly the same place. Next time I’m passing through Paris …
I must admit, I can’t see 5 people in this image – just the shoeshiner and his customer. I’ve looked for the little boy at the window and there is something round and pale at the base of the top left-hand window in the white building. But whether it’s a human face or, a pot, or something else, I find it impossible to say. Given that the exposure time for this was 10-15 minutes I consider it unlikely that a little boy would have stayed in that position for that length of time.
Where are the other people you mention? I can’t see them at all.
There are about 5 people, and possibly 6th person but they are barely seen in this image.
1. The little boy is at the window in the white building. Maybe he was staring at what Daugerre was doing with his camera on the rooftop (or balcony) in front of the little boy’s apartment building for a while until this picture was taken. It seems to me that he was looking at Daugerre and his camera perfectly and he was curious about Daugerre’s new camera or something like that. Maybe not, but I could see his face, dark hair and ears a little bit blurry in this image. This white building seemed to be much closer to where Daugerre took this picture on the rooftop (or balcony) of the building than the other buildings in this image.
2. The shoeshine boy and his customer are at the corner of the cobblestone street.
3. One man and one woman in long dress (?) are sitting on the bench near the building about 15 feet from the shoeshine boy and his customer at the same corner of the cobblestone street. Could you see them there?
4. One man is standing on the sidewalk by the third building with white three awnings from the left across the cobblestone street from the other buildings in this image. Could you barely see the man there? Maybe it is a small tree or a lamppost, but I could barely see the man in this image.
I have been looking for the exact spot where Daugerre took this image but “Baron Haussmann” building renovations might have been changed some years after this picture was taken. It seems to me that today’s buildings are hard to identify the spot locations where Daugerre took of this picture. If you live in England, you could go to Paris’ 3rd Arrondissement and try to find the exact location and could take few pictures of that location and put them on your website to compare the 1830s buildings to the 2010s buildings and spot locations where 5 or 6 people were shown on this image. I live in the USA. I would like to visit the historic places, especially the old buildings, in European cities, including Paris one day – maybe in a few years from now.
Wow James, you have eyes like a hawk! I’ve peered at the picture enlarged to 100% in the places you mention but I’d hesitate to say whether there are human figures there or not. The shape close to the shoeshine pair (your No.3) could be a woman with a pram, but I find it really difficult to tell. A woman with a pram may well have been sitting still for length of time necessary to be recorded.
I live in Switzerland, but am British, so I occasionally travel back to the UK via Paris (but only occasionally, as negotiating Paris is a bit of a nightmare). Next time I’m in the city I’ll make a point of trying to find this spot. Thanks for the idea.
Thanks for the comment! Yes, I have seen five or six human figures in this 1838 image! If you have plans to stop in Paris on your way home to England or back to Switzerland, you can print this image (also enlarged one if possible) out and bring it with you to Paris’ 3rd arrondissement (around Place de Republique) and look for the exact location that Daguerre took a picture of this place and where five or six people were shown in this image. If you cannot find it, you can ask someone who live in this arrondissement or ask someone at one of the Paris Photography museums with your print out image paper and they should help you to find it. If you find it, you could take some pictures of the Place de Republique area and Boulevard du Temple area buildings and streets and then put them on your website with identified circles of the pictures that Daugerre took and where five or six people were shown in this image. Please keep me posted for more information on this.
I wish I would live in Switzerland but it is one of the most expensive countries to live but would love to visit Swizterland someday!
I say it is one of the most expensive countries in the world to live…
Expensive? You’re not far wrong there.
Hello Alistair, have you planned to travel to Paris to check the location where this photo was taken on your way back to England yet? If not, please let me know when you plan to go there and take some pictures of the today’s location from this photo. Thanks
Greetings James.
I haven’t planned to travel to Paris. I will try to arrange it next time I go that way … but that will be some indefinite time in the future. In general I try to avoid Paris when travelling. It’s a nightmare to drive through. So … when the chance arises. But I’ve no idea when that will be.
Hello Alistair, I understand. Maybe someone could take you to Paris or maybe you could reach there (Paris and 3rd Arrondissement) via train and subway instead of driving. I have been to Los Angeles, California (like other big cities around the world) area several times and traffic on freeways is bad. How about London’s motorways and other motorways around your country, England? Your country’s size seems to be much smaller than all of France and it seems to me that many places in England could be reached everything from historic villages to forest parks in such short distances by all kinds of transportation. If we visit Europe, we could use public transportation like Euro train or subway or city bus to travel around instead of driving in cities like Paris or Rome.
I forgot to tell you that my aunt is a professional photographer and has taken lots of pictures of people’s weddings and other things such as Lake Tahoe, a beautiful lake resort area in California and Nevada since. She has her photography website, too.
Thanks James,
In fact, I live in Switzerland. There is a good connection to Paris via the TGV (High-speed train), but it would still take at least 1 whole day. I’ll look into it.
Hello Alistair, I was surprised to read an article about early photographs that someone took in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA about 160 years ago (before American Civil War) on http://www.yahoo.com yesterday and it also mentioned about Daguerre who taking a picture of Boulevard du Temple with human figures in Paris in 1838. I found the present photo that Daguerre took a picture of that place in 1838. It seems to me the two pictures are about the same but traffic lights and modern things are appeared there now. I do not have your email address so I am giving you more information on this. Check out http://www.yahoo.com and then type “Very early photographic image of humans discovered” in the search section. You will see them about the early photographs and then you will see the 5th paragraph of this artcile, click “an 1838 photo he took of Paris” (in blue) and find lots of information on Boulevard du Temple and also people have commented about it just like I said in my messages above to you last summer about a little boy looking out the 3rd floor window in the white building, two persons sitting on a bench and another possibly human figure standing by the building across the cobbled street from the white building (someone said the horse drawn wagon is appeared on the cobbled street farther away from the shoe shiner and his customer – red circle that is shown on the image). You will see the old photo and present photo of Boulevard du Temple. Interesting. Also, you can click “here” in blue in the 5th paragraph for more information on Boulevard du Temple (The Hokumburg Goombah). Please let me know if you find them and what do you think of other human figures than the shoe shiner and his customer are appeared in the image. Are you still planning to Paris to visit the Boulevard du Temple area and taking pictures of them? James
Hello Alistair, I guess you have been very busy since. Have you read an article about the early photographs above and have you found the present Paris photo (Google street view) with a 1838 photo? Interesting! There is no white building where a little boy pulling the curtain and looking out the 3rd floor window in the present Paris photo and this white building seems to be torn down a long time ago and the bench on the sidewalk where one man and one woman sat near the shine shoe boy and his customer was gone as the buildings had expanded closer to the street than before.
Hi James, I have been busy. You’ve been very diligent in checking the location in Google Street View. And it’s probably not surprising that the buildings have changed. The photograph was taken over 170 years ago! That’s one of the great things about photography … recording scenes as they were. People forget.
I am hardly, an expert. I am just a guy who googled this story after seeing it on CNN, and found this page. I came up with a simple argument against the bootblack and his customer being planted. What if the bootblack had multple customers? Arguably, all of his customers would sit in roughly the same position and the bootblack would polish in the same position. Three customers of roughly the same size, sitting in the same chair and in the same position would probably result in an image about the same as one person sitting in the chair for a whole 15 minutes. The only thing that could improve the image quality would be if the pair stood frozen the entire time. But, aside from being frozen like a statue, 1 man in the chair wouldn’t look that much different from 3 men in the chair, one after another.