Deyner´s Notes!

⌛ Reading time: 6 minutes

Hello dear readers! :) Coming from the first part of this interesting, mystical and weird series of articles dedicated to those very first photographs af all times, we will find ourselves facing a second volley of photographs depicting some of the very first moments and places ever taken by any known photographer.

As said in the first part of this series of articles ”...remember is to live again”, so we will see and remember here how some important cities like Chicago and Boston look like in the past, what were the first photos taken in wartime and... the earliest meteorological photo ever taken. Join us on this incredible journey through the history shown by ancient photographers to learn a bit better about aspects of our past lives that shaped the future we live today.

Without further delays...let's go!

*❶* The very first photo of Chicago, 1855

Fig 1. *Daguerreotype of the Cook County Court House and City Hall of Chicago, 1855 (https://www.dnainfo.com/)*

The oldest-known photo in Chicago history was taken by Alexander Hesler. This photographer is best remembered for taking a series of photographs (daguerreotypes) of a beardless Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Hesler was a “quebecois”, a native from Canada, but moved to Chicago in 1855 and he stayed in the city until after the Great Fire of 1871.

This oldest daguerreotype depicts the courthouse and City Hall of Chicago. The building was erected in 1853 from plans by John M. Van Osdel, Chicago's first architect and for photographic purposes it served as both: as an objective of the lens of Mr. Hesler and as a place to take another pictures from the surrounding buildings of the Chicago city in the year of 1858. A curious data is that the building was destroyed in the 1871 fire. This old daguerreotype shows the northwest corner of the building at Randolph and LaSalle.

❷ The first photo of Dublin, 1848

Fig 2. *A group pose in front St. George’s Church, 1848. (https://mymodernmet.com)*

Not much is known about this photo. It is widely recognized as the first(surviving) photograph taken in Dublin, Ireland. It shows a group of victorians posing in front of St. George’s Church, a former Church of Ireland parish church located in Hardwicke Street. The building still stands today and is used as office space.

❸ The earliest aerial photo, 1860

Fig 3. *Aerial view of Boston, 1860. (https://www.widewalls.ch)*

Is been said that the very very first aerial photograph was taken back in 1858, in Paris by Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, however, that photo has been reported as missing or destroyed as well as the equipment used to take it, so all the evidence that could prove that is no longer with us.

The next gem of aerial photography corresponds to the American continent. The earliest aerial photo known to exist (and preserved) is a view of Boston, named “Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It”. Taken from 2,066 feet in the air by James Wallace Black and Samuel Archer King. Mr. Black is best known for his photographs of Boston after the devasting fire of 1872 and launched his solo career in 1860 with the production of a series of aerial photographs taken from Samuel King’s hot-air balloon the “Queen of the Air”.

❹ The first photo taken in a war scenario, 1847

Fig 4. *American troops ride into the city of Saltillo during the war with Mexico.(https://militaryhistorynow.com)*

This is the very first know photo taken in a war scenario but not the very first photograph of an ongoing battle, that honor belongs to another photo we will see in next section.

This photo shows the American general John E. Wool and his staff riding through “La Calle Real” in Saltillo, Mexico, in early 1847 after his troops captured the city during the American-Mexican war. The war was fought between 1846 and 1848 and was one of the earliest human conflicts recorded using photography. The United States took Mexico City during the war, and, in the treaty that followed, Mexico conceded uncontested control over California and what is now the American southwest to the United States.

❺ The first photograph taken in battlefield, 1870

Fig 5. *Battle of Sedan: an episode of a combat at La Moncelle. (https://militaryhistorynow.com)*

Yep this is a real photo of the Battle of Sedan (widely accepted). This battle is famous for many reasons. The Battle of Sedan was fought in the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. And it was a disaster for the French side: Emperor Napoleon III and a large numbers of his troops were captured and it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies.

This image shows a line of Prussian troops as they advance(in the background) while a line of French defenders were trying to hold the Prussian advance. In perspective, we can see that the photographer shot the image as he stood with French defenders.

There has been a lot of discussion of this photograph online about whether the photograph is authentic or not, mainly because of the exposition times needed to take a clear image with the technology of that time, not to talk about the motion been captured with a technology incompatible with the same motion. However experts in photograph field agree in the possibility of the authenticity of this photograph...split decision...while evidence arrives this is still recognized as the very first photograph taken in the middle of a battle.

❻ First Photo of a Tornado, 1884

Fig 6. *A tornado moving slowly on Anderson County, Kansas. (https://mymodernmet.com)*

Maybe is a coincidence but the very first photo taken of a tornado was shoot in Kansas **:)** Was taken on April 26, 1884.

According to Kansas Historical Society the tornado’s slow progress allowed Mr. Adams, who was a local fruit farmer and amateur photographer, enough time to assemble his cumbersome box camera and capture this singular image. Positioned near the United Presbyterian Church in Garnett, Adams was standing just 14 miles from the cyclone. Modern meteorologists consider Adam’s photograph to indeed be the first image, corroborated by Signal Corps(an early precursor to the National Weather Service) weather maps and the newspaper account containing a physical description of the storm.

Final thougths...by now

The second part of this series of articles show us a piece of history surrounded mainly by bravery...bravery shown by those men who risked somehow their lifes to be in the center of conflicts like wars and natural disasters even, to take with their rudimentary cameras the first pictures ever taken on those places. Besides, we have seen the beginnings of what we can call the born of architectural photography even from the sky, in times where the mankind could only dream of having planes.

One way or another the historical value of such photographs cannot be denied and we can only thank those early photographers for a job well done. As always, i hope you, dear reader, have enjoyed this second burst of historic photos...more on their way!!!

If you are an enthusiast of historical photograph and amazing discoveries do not forget to follow me at https://coil.com/u/deyner1984 because i will be releasing soon new and impressive contents about it!!!

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