The First Travel Photo and the Future of Photography

01.28.10 | 11:15 AM ET

Boulevard du Temple by Daguerre (Wikimedia Commons)

In 1838 Jacques Daguerre made an eight-minute exposure of a busy city street. His resulting “Daguerreotype” photograph only captured the motionless: buildings, a tree lined street and a single man having his shoes polished. Everything moving blurred into invisibility. Some have described the image as the first photograph of a person. I think it’s more than that. The man was captured candidly in a daily activity and the scene around him communicates volumes about the location. The image conveys a sense of place strong enough to make it, arguably, the world’s first travel photo.

As a travel photo, though, there is an important piece of information missing. Where exactly is this street?

So, Daguerre helped us out and titled the photograph, “Boulevard du Temple, Paris.”

From Daguerre to Geotagging Denali....Read More on WorldHum....