On QI the other day they showed a photo of the Duke of Wellington, born 1769. I was wondering if there is a known photo of anyone born before this date.
I couldn't see this in the FAQ, apologies if I missed it.
Lemuel Cook was born in 1759, and was a Revolutionary War veteran. He was the oldest person Ive found with a listed birthdate.
However, there is also this article (which I think was written about a book) which features daguerreotypes of veterans of the American Revolutionary War. While they dont have a listed D.O.B., they are certainly in the runnings.
There is also this great photograph (daguerre boulevard du temple, which is actually a daguerreotype) taken in 1838. The plate had to be exposed to the street for over 10 min to produce that image. Its believed that there was some foot traffic by the window during the exposure, but the crowds moved so quickly that they didnt leave much of an exposure. The only people holding still were a boot shine and his/her customer. I just post this here because its impossible to tell how old either person is, but its interesting to think about what this daguerreotype captured (and didnt capture!).
