What is the oldest photo of Paris?

At the beginning of the photographyin the first half of the 19th century, a certain Daguerre perfected the first photographic process based on the work of his associate Nicéphore Niépce. And during an outdoor outing, he perfected his invention and then gave birth to the first photograph representing the capital. Nearly 200 years later, we still admire the work of the inventor and marvel at the Paris of yesteryear.

Here is the oldest photo of the City of Lights

Fascinating in many aspects, the Paris of yesteryear in photos, video or 3D reconstructions allows us to immerse ourselves in an unknown era and learn a little more about the city. Today, we are looking at a historical issue, namely the first photograph of the capitalin the midst of perfecting this invention. Taken from a window in Daguerre's workshop, it shows the boulevard du Temple in an (almost) completely empty Paris.

We have to go back a century before the Second World War, before the Commune and the Belle-Époque to be able to find traces of the first photo of Paris. Armed with what we call a “Daguerreotype“, Daguerre took his photography experiments outside for the first time and captured the moment. Although no source indicates precisely the date of the photo, it is estimated at 1938 or 1937 since Daguerre presented it to the French government in January 1939.

Another historical curiosity realized that day, the capture of a human being in a photograph. Indeed, before being further developed, the photographic process required a subject to pose for long periods of time. Coincidence or not, this is precisely what a man further down was doing as he was having his shoes shined. So, it’s a doubly historic photo!