Famous First Photographs in History, get list here

First Photograph Ever

The world's first photograph—or at least the oldest surviving photo—was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827. Captured using a technique known as heliography, the shot was taken from an upstairs window at Niépce's estate in Burgundy.

As heliography produces one-of-a-kind images, there are no duplicates of the piece, which is now part of the permanent collection at the University of Texas-Austin.

World's First Self-Portrait

Robert Cornelius's 1839 image that lays claim to the first self-portrait. Taken in Philadelphia, Cornelius sat for a little over one minute before covering the lens.

First Photograph of the Moon

John W. Draper from 1840 is the first photo of the moon. Taken from his rooftop observatory at New York University, the image has since sustained extensive damage.

First Photo with People

Louis Daguerre—the inventor of daguerreotype—shot what is not only the world's oldest photograph of Paris, but also the first photo with humans. The 10-minute long exposure was taken in 1839 in Place de la République and it's just possible to make out two blurry figures in the left-hand corner.

First Photo of War

Carol Popp de Szathmari is the first known war photographer, capturing hundreds of images of the Crimean War. But it's this image from 1870 that is thought to be the first photograph of an actual battle. Showing a line of Prussian troops as they advance, the photographer shot the image as he stood with French defenders.

First Photo of a President

John Quincy Adams holds the distinction of being the first U.S. president photographed, though he wasn't in office at the time. Captured at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1843, fourteen years after he left office, the daguerreotype was shot by Philip Haas. The first photograph of a sitting president was taken in 1841, but has now been lost. It depicted short-lived president William Henry Harrison before he passed away from pneumonia just 31 days after taking office.

First Photograph of the Sun

Just five years after the first photo of the moon, in 1845, French physicists Louis Fizeau and Leon Foucault took the first photograph of the sun. Even with just a 1/60th exposure, it's possible to see sunspots.

First Photo of a Tornado

It only seems fitting that the first known photograph of a tornado was taken in Kansas. On April 26, 1884, a tornado moved slowly across Anderson county, which allowed amateur photographer A.A. Adams to set up his box camera. A pioneering image in meteorology, Adams' image is a pre-cursor to the storm chasers we still see today.

First Aerial Photo

In the age of drones, aerial photography is often taken for granted, but this 1860 image actually pioneered the technique. Showing Boston from over 2,000 feet in the air, this aerial photograph was taken by James Wallace Black and Samuel Archer King. Unfortunately, the first aerial image, which was taken by French photographer and balloonist Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, has been lost.

First Photograph of Earth from the Moon

On August 23, 1966, a lunar orbiter snapped this image of Earth from the Moon. The incredible image was captured during the orbiter's 16th lap around the Moon.

First Color Photograph

Physicist James Clerk Maxwell is responsible for taking the world's first color photograph. In 1855, Maxwell developed a three-color method, with the actual shutter being pressed by Thomas Sutton in 1861. The subject of the image? A colored ribbon, also known as a tartan ribbon.

First Color Underwater Photo

In 1926 National Geographic photographer Charles Martin and botanist William Longley took the first underwater photograph in color. Taken off the Florida Keys, it shows a hogfish. The duo took this pioneering shot by encasing cameras in waterproof housing and using a magnesium-powered flash.

First Digital Photo

Almost 20 years before the original Kodak digital camera, in 1957, this square image of Russell Kirsch's son was taken. The photo is a digital scan of a film image, resulting in a square photograph that makes it Instagram ready.

First Digital Photo of a President

It was only in 2009 that a digital camera was used to photograph POTUS. Official photographer Pete Souza holds the honor with his portrait of Barack Obama. Taken with a Canon 5D Mark II and no flash, the image shows the shifting gears of technology that have reached the White House.

First Photo on Instagram

On July 16, 2010, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom uploaded the first post on Instagram. Actually, it was uploaded using an app called Codename, which three months later became the app we all know and love. It's only fitting—given how many pets have become famous from the app—that the first photo on Instagram shows Systrom's cute pup sitting at a taco stand in Mexico.

First Photo Inside the Sun's Corona

On November 8, 2018, NASA's Parker Solar Probe took a groundbreaking photograph at 16.9 million miles from the Sun. That's incredibly close when one considers that Earth is located 91 million miles from the Sun.

First Photo of a Black Hole

In April 2019, NASA released the first known image of a black hole. This mysterious entity sits in the center of the Messier 87 galaxy—55 million light years from Earth—and was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope.