# What is the oldest known photograph? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364 "2008-11-18T22:05:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/1 "2008-11-18T22:05:33Z")
That includes dageurrotypes or any other antiquated method for capturing a recognizeable image. (preferably with a link) ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/2 "2008-11-18T22:09:13Z")
The [Turin shroud](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turin_shroud#Photographic_image_production)? (I’m not sure how serious that should be taken, or even how old it really is) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/3 "2008-11-18T22:23:31Z")
The oldest photograph is a bitumen plate image by Nicephore Niepce: [BBC News | EUROPE | World's oldest photo sold to library](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1885093.stm) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/4 "2008-11-18T22:23:36Z")
Looks like a heliogravure from [1825](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1885093.stm). ETA: Shouldn’t have waited to pretty up my link! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/5 "2008-11-18T22:26:43Z")
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_photography) link. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/6 "2008-11-18T22:55:26Z")
I’d have to go for the Turin Shroud. I read a book about it once and I believe the author made his case. Without turning it into a hijack, are there any other negative images the predate silver halide photography? ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/7 "2008-11-18T23:05:39Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > The oldest photograph is a bitumen plate image by Nicephore Niepce: [BBC News | EUROPE | World's oldest photo sold to library](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1885093.stm) I found that with my google-fu. When I saw it I was confused because it looks like a painting or an engraving. But it is a photo _OF_ an engraving! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/8 "2008-11-18T23:15:24Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > I found that with my google-fu. When I saw it I was confused because it looks like a painting or an engraving. But it is a photo _OF_ an engraving! Yes. As an amateur photographer, I learned that [this](http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Odd%20Pics%202/Niepce.html) was the oldest photograph, but apparently the photocopy preceded it. There’s also the possibility that there is an even earlier [“photograph”](http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/no_april_fool_worlds_oldest_photo_could_rewrite_history_books_image_may_date_pre1805_news_217124.html). ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/9 "2008-11-18T23:34:32Z")
Well, Well, Well, Nice to see Wikipedia left me completely off the friggin’ page. Pricks! I was an important figure in early photography and worth looking up. I was going to post the leaf picture as well but Beowulff gets the nod. The early stuff is fascinating and when you see what these guys were up for trying it seems to further sap the life out of digital. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/10 "2008-11-18T23:58:58Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Yes. As an amateur photographer, I learned that [this](http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Odd%20Pics%202/Niepce.html) was the oldest photograph, but apparently the photocopy preceded it. From your link: > [@](#): > > Niepce called his work a “heliograph,” in a tribute to the power of the sun. Dude! Heliograph is a _much_ cooler name than photograph! ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/11 "2008-11-19T02:30:10Z")
You may be interested in the Robert Goddard novel [Caught in the Light](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/robert-goddard/caught-in-light.htm), which features much discussion of early photography in a sub-plot. ---
**Author:** ![datasos\_adv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@datasos\_adv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/datasos_adv)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/12 "2008-11-19T07:41:37Z")
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**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/13 "2008-11-19T12:41:14Z")
never mind ---
**Author:** ![shallora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@shallora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shallora)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/14 "2008-11-19T15:51:11Z")
What about the first known photograph of a recognizable person? (I mean not a photograph of an engraving of a person; nor of an unrecognizable human on the horizon; but an actual close-up photo of a person?) The oldest photo of any person is claimed to be an 1838 image taken by Louis Jacques-Mande Daguerre. > **[World’s oldest photograph of a human being …](https://united-cats.com/2007/06/12/worlds-oldest-photograph-of-a-human-being/)** > > This is one of the, if not the, oldest known photograph of a human being in existence. It depends on how one defines photograph, but this was taken by Louis Jacques-Mande Daguerre in 1838. (The fel… However, the “person(s)” in this photo are too distant to make out anything. What I want to know is what is the first known photograph of a RECOGNIZABLE person/people? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/15 "2008-11-19T16:32:21Z")
For a better one, Robert Cornelius? > **[Robert Cornelius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cornelius)** > > Robert Cornelius (/kɔːrˈniːliəs/; March 1, 1809 – August 10, 1893) was an American photographer and pioneer in the history of photography. His daguerreotype self-portrait taken in 1839 is generally accepted as the first known photographic portrait of a person taken in the United States. He operated some of the earliest photography studios in the United States between 1840 and 1842 and implemented innovative techniques to significantly reduce the exposure time required for portraits. > He was an ... ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-known-photograph/473364/16 "2008-11-19T19:59:45Z")
> [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_photography) link. That daguerrotype appears in the Time-Life Books Life Science Library volume _Light and Vision,_, Page 64; by Niêpce. It’s very hard to make out, but that is because it has not been retouched. (Gernsheim Collection.)