Pont Neuf - First Daguerrotype Ever With Human Being?

First Daguerrotype Ever With Human Being?

About two years before M. Daguerre made his famous daguerrotype of Boulevard du Temple, where a human being is recognizable, the inventor photographed other places in Paris to experiment the new technique in plein air. In the very first example of his own attempts, he made an image of the Pont Neuf and the equestrian statue of Henry IV. Since early images were mirrored, at the left side (actually the right side) of the statue we can clearly see one (or two) worker(s) lying under the statue shadow.