Exhibited as a digital copy in: "Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America's Library" at the Annenberg Space for Photography, 2018; Icons section.

Published in: "Images of America" chapter of the ebook Great Photographs from the Library of Congress, 2013.

Inscribed on paper backing: The first light picture ever taken. 1839.

Restricted access. Please use digital image or other reference copy. Original photograph is too fragile to serve.

Daguerre announced his invention of a photographic method to the French Academy of Sciences in August 1839. That October, a young Philadelphian, Robert Cornelius, working out of doors to take advantage of the light, made this head-and-shoulders self-portrait using a box fitted with a lens from an opera glass. In the portrait, Cornelius stands slightly off-center with hair askew, in the yard behind his family's lamp and chandelier store, peering uncertainly into the camera. Early daguerreotypy required a long exposure time, ranging from three to fifteen minutes, making the process nearly impractical for portraiture. (Source: "Photographic Material," by Carol Johnson. In Gathering History: the Marian S. Carson Collection of Americana, 1999, p. 100)

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Rights Advisory : No known restrictions on publication.

: Reproduction Number : LC-DIG-ppmsca-40464 (digital file from original item) LC-USZC4-5001 (color film copy transparency) LC-USZC2-4912 (color film copy slide) LC-USZ6-2174 (b&w film copy neg.)

: Call Number : DAG no. 1255 (Cabinet A)

: Medium: 1 photograph : approximate quarter plate daguerreotype ; mount 37.6 x 29.1 cm, visible plate 9 x 6.9 cm.

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