Robert Cornelius, The First Person To Photograph Themself (1839)
This photograph is special for a good reason. After all, the 1839 daguerreotype by Robert Cornelius is considered the first “selfie” ever taken. He was an amateur chemist who shot this in the back of the family store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Public Domain Review said, “Cornelius took the image by removing the lens cap and then running into frame where he sat for a minute before covering up the lens again. On the back of the image he wrote ‘The first light Picture ever taken. 1839.’”
Robert Cornelius, The First Person To Photograph Themself (1839)
Robert E. Lee And His Son William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (c. 1845)
Even though he led the Confederate military in the Civil War, he was considered highly honorable and respected. Robert E. Lee was not a secessionist but thought he had to defend Virginia after it decided to leave the Union. His biographer Roy Blount Jr. said, “To me it’s slavery, much more than secession as such, that casts a shadow over Lee’s honorableness.” This daguerreotype was taken by Michael Miley in 1845 or so. It shows Lee with his son Rooney Lee. The younger man joined the Confederate cavalry and rose to the rank of general during the Civil war.
Robert E. Lee And His Son William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (c. 1845)
