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WonderHistory fact

Around 1838, Louis Daguerre photographed the busy Boulevard du Temple in Paris from his studio window. The exposure took several minutes, so passing carriages and walkers left no trace. Only a man standing still to have his boots polished stayed long enough to appear, probably the first person ever caught on camera.

Paris, c. 1838

History

The story behind the card

Daguerre, a painter of stage scenery, perfected the daguerreotype, the first practical photographic process, which was announced to the world in 1839. Each image formed on a silver-coated copper plate, and by 1838 he had cut exposure times to four or five minutes. The Boulevard du Temple view was taken at about eight in the morning from his studio next to his Diorama theatre. Look closely and a bootblack and his customer stand at the street corner in the lower left. Researchers have spotted faint traces of other figures too, and a few suggest the “bootblack” may in fact be a water pump. In 1839 Daguerre gave a set of three plates to King Ludwig I of Bavaria. Kept in Munich, they slowly deteriorated, and a restoration attempted after they were lent to the Munich City Museum in 1970 damaged them further.

Türkçe oku
Louis Daguerre, 1838 dolaylarında Paris'teki kalabalık Boulevard du Temple'ı atölyesinin penceresinden fotoğrafladı. Pozlama birkaç dakika sürdüğünden gelip geçen arabalar ve yayalar plakada hiç iz bırakmadı. Görüntüde yalnızca, ayakkabısını boyatırken kıpırdamadan duran bir adam kaldı; büyük olasılıkla fotoğrafı çekilen ilk insan oydu.
Paris, 1838 dolayları

Tiyatro dekoru ressamı Daguerre, uygulamada kullanılabilen ilk fotoğraf yöntemi olan dagerotipi geliştirdi; buluş 1839'da dünyaya duyuruldu. Görüntü gümüş kaplı bir bakır levhanın üzerinde oluşuyordu ve Daguerre 1838'e gelindiğinde pozlama süresini dört beş dakikaya indirmişti. Boulevard du Temple fotoğrafı sabah saat sekiz sularında, Diorama adlı gösteri salonunun yanındaki atölyesinden çekildi. Dikkatle bakınca sol alt köşede bir ayakkabı boyacısıyla müşterisi seçilir. Araştırmacılar başka silik figürlerin izlerine de rastladı; bazıları ise “boyacı” sanılan şeyin aslında bir su pompası olabileceğini düşünüyor. Daguerre 1839'da üç levhalık bir seriyi Bavyera Kralı I. Ludwig'e armağan etti. Münih'te saklanan levhalar zamanla bozuldu; 1970'te Münih Şehir Müzesi'ne ödünç verildikten sonra denenen bir onarım da onlara daha çok zarar verdi.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Boulevard du Temple (photograph)
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