Original Photographs of Famous People of the Seventeenth Century
We cannot definitely say who invented camera or who took the first photograph. If we consult Google-uncle, we will find different answers to these questions on different websites.As far as I know, Joseph Nicephore Niepce took the first photograph, or the oldest surviving photograph, in 1826/1827. So, before that year, we can't find photograph of any person, however famous he or she might be.
Today I was reading an article on this topic. The article astonished me, but I am not going into the details. I can only say that I find from that article that there is at least one original photograph each of two very famous personalities who happen to be my personal favourites (although from different fields).
The first one is Abraham Lincoln. I didn't know that there exists at least one original photograph of this great statesman and unifier of the United States of America. Earlier, I had an impression that we see only the paintings of Lincoln.
Besides Lincoln, from the article I have also come to know there is one photograph of the great but whimsical Dutch artist, Vincent Van Gogh, who committed suicide in 1890. Earlier whenever I used to think about Van Gogh, I used to see/imagine his famous self-portrait. But now, I have seen his photograph and found him a handsome young man.
Besides these two greats about whom I have read in the article, some people say that the very famous sage of India, Trailanga Swami, was also captured in a photograph. But I am not fully sure about it.
I am sharing the original photograph of Abraham Lincoln for the members of ISC. If they are interested, I will also upload the photo of Van Gogh later.
