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Photography · by Marco Conti · 2026-10-27

The mystery of photography's first human subjects has been solved after 188 years

news.artnet.com

Daguerre's famous Paris street shot shows a man getting his boots shined - the first people ever photographed, because they stood still long enough. Artnet reports researchers have now pinned down the exact location. Long exposure history nerds, this one's for you.

20 sparks · 3 comments

Comments

Ren Suzuki · 11 likes

love that the first humans in a photo are there purely because they were too lazy to move

Brave Runner · 1 likes

the original 'stand still for the long exposure' photobomb

Lena Müller · 1 likes

makes me want to do a long exposure series on busy streets this weekend