World's First Photo

angkor cut-and-pastes "'The image acknowledged as the world's first photograph - taken by a French inventor in 1826 - has passed its first full-scale analysis with flying colors and is now awaiting an airtight case that will keep it safe for centuries to come, scientists said Wednesday.'" See also the first color photography.

inventor info

[larry bagina]

A little more info on the inventor here [rleggat.com] and here [ucsb.edu]

Re:First photo? Wild Turin Shroud theories...

[Anonymous Coward]

The Turin shroud is a painting of the middle age.

1- The carbon 14 datings say this around 1988
2- The fact that the colour on the shroud is due to artificial pigments (proved by an american polarised microscope specialist, Walter McCrone) said this even before. (around 1980)
3- The historians said this even before, as the painter actually admitted having done this to the bishop of Troyes.
4- The King' inquirers, the Bishop inquirers and the Pope (Clement VII) inquirers said this first, back in the 14th century when this painting first appeared. (around 1360)

The only common point between the "Shroud" and this photograph is both were "made in France"

error and more info about the photo

[Ristretto]

The article at least implies that the photograph has not been on display, which is inaccurate. Until the renovation work, anyone could go into the Harry Ransom Center, on the main campus at the University of Texas, and see the photo. The photograph was kept in a darkened little anteroom which you walked into to see the photo. I've seen it several times and taken visitors to see it as well.

You can get more information [utexas.edu] about the Ransom Center's photographic collections.

Hidden Photos

[boa13]

There are quite a few more photos available at the Prokudin-Gorskii Exhibition [loc.gov] than officially linked from the pages of the exhibition. If I'm not mistaken, 111 photos are available, but only 61 are linked. How to reach them is quite trivial and left as an execise for the reader. Hey, you'll even get the chance to have a beautiful picture of Alix Chevallier!

Should be seen in person

[glenmark]

I saw the real thing several years ago in a lobby to one of the upper floors of the Harry Ransom Center here at UT. The picture is tiny, and the image faint, looking for all the world like a scrap of tinfoil with the image only visible from certain angles, manifested as a slight difference in the gloss of the surface. I can't help but wonder what it looked like when it was new.

There were many wonders to behold in that building. On that particular visit, I was "behind the ropes" to do some maintenance work on a database server sitting in the corner of one of the center's conservation rooms. Sitting near me were a remarkable array of items, ranging from a model sailboat used in the making of an old John Huston film, to a collection of original Edgar Allen Poe manuscripts. And these were items that weren't even on display. I would've love to have just spent months rummaging around in that one room...

Sadly, much of the collection of the Harry Ransom Center is accessible on to scholars on a by-reservation basis. Fortunately, plans are in place to make the collects more accessible to the public.

Re:I'm willing to bet 20 francs...

[phaze3000]

Franc? What's a franc?

I think you mean €20...

Re:Too bad that...

[gorilla]

You can go older than that. 7 track tapes were introduced in 1952, and obsolete in 1966 with the introduction of the 9 track tape. There are still people with working 7 track drives who can read 7 track [piercefuller.com].