Paris, 1838

This image of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris was taken by Louis Daguerre himself on a spring morning in 1838 from the window of the Diorama, where he lived and worked (its caption reads ‘huit heure du matin’ (8 am)) It is the earliest photograph to show human beings, but, although the boulevard was a busy thoroughfare, only a boot shiner and his customer were still for long enough to be visible.