Daguerre's Boulevard du Temple: Paris Unveils Bronze Plaque Marking the First Photographed Humans
On 15 October 2026, a bronze plaque was unveiled at place de la République in Paris, commemorating the site of two unidentified individuals captured in Louis Daguerre's daguerreotype from spring 1838 of the boulevard du Temple. The plaque, created by designers Maximilien van Aertryck, Axel Danielson, and Kalle Boman, stems from a 2024 study that reconstructed the neighborhood of 1838. Researcher Peter von Waldthausen proposed a date of 2 May 1838 through shadow analysis. However, a competing daguerreotype found in 1989 indicates it may be from 1837. Daguerre presented the plate to Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1839, and it is currently housed at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum. This plaque contributes to the tradition of historical markers in Paris.
Key facts
- A bronze plaque about one metre by 70 centimetres was inaugurated at place de la République in Paris on 15 October 2026
- Louis Daguerre made the boulevard du Temple daguerreotype in spring 1838 from his studio window
- The exposure took several minutes, so only the stationary shoeshiner and client were recorded
- Peter von Waldthausen hypothesised the date 2 May 1838 using shadow length and position
- The original plate, given to Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1839, is held at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich and is now nearly black
- The 2024 location study used cadastral plans, maps, prints and three surviving buildings, with calculations by French and Swedish architecture firms
- Sébastien Morlighem proposed in Photographica in October 2025 that a faint wall sign relates to Paris grocer Jean Aymès
- Olivier Ihl's 2018 book Le Premier Portrait photographique examines the M. Huet daguerreotype, rediscovered in 1989 with a note suggesting 1837
Entities
Artists
- Louis Daguerre
- Nicéphore Niépce
- Jean-Baptiste Sabatier-Blot
- Peter von Waldthausen
- Olivier Ihl
- Jean-Baptiste Constant Huet
- Charles Leo
- Matthias Weniger
- Sébastien Morlighem
- Maximilien van Aertryck
- Axel Danielson
- Kalle Boman
- Jean Aymès
- Ludwig I of Bavaria
- Baron Haussmann
- Maximilien Van Aertryck
- Georges-Eugène Haussmann
- Éric Chaverou
- Lauren Collins
- Martin Fort
- Jean-Baptiste Gurliat
- Sonja Anderson
- Beaumont Newhall
- Ludwig I, King of Bavaria
Institutions
- Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
- Musée des Arts et Métiers
- Le Cnam
- George Eastman Museum
- Éditions du Croquant
- Photographica
- Alphonse Giroux & Cie
- Ville de Paris
- Beaux Arts
- City of Paris
- Radio France
- The New Yorker
- Le Monde
- Wikimedia Commons
- Smithsonian magazine
- Archives de Paris
- Caserne Vérines
- Museum of Modern Art
- Bavarian National Museum
- Getty Center
- PetaPixel
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Boulevard du Temple
- Place de la République
- Rue du Faubourg-du-Temple
- Caserne Vérines
- Rue du Bac
- Munich
- Germany
- Bavaria
- Rochester
- Notre-Dame
- Aldabra Atoll
- Shanghai
- Los Angeles
- United States