The first picture of a human being
Boulevard du Temple by Louis Daguerre 1838 (unmirrored) In 1838 Daguerre took this photo of the Boulevard du Temple, better known at the time as “Crime Boulevard” because of the murders played every night in the dozens of theaters of the boulevard.The photograph was taken at 8am from a window in Daguerre's studio beside the Diorama de Louis Daguerre at 5 Rue des Marais, behind the Place du Château-d'Eau. The Boulevard would have been busy with people and horse traffic but because an exposure time of four to five minutes would have been required the only people recorded were two keeping still – a bootblack and his customer at the corner of the street shown at lower right of the plate.