From Presurfer
This is a Daguerreotype taken by the inventor of the process, Louis Daguerre, in 1838. It is a view of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris, France, and is believed to be the first ever photograph of a human being. To achieve this image he exposed a chemically treated metal plate for ten minutes.
Others were walking or riding in carriages down that busy street that day, but because they moved, they didn't show up. Only this guy stood still getting his boots polished long enough to show up in the picture.
