Photography was still in its infancy during the 1800s, but what the early pioneers captured with their bulky cameras and glass plates was nothing short of revolutionary. These 36 photographs aren’t just pretty pictures, but rather windows into moments that shaped our world. From the first images to tackle life’s deepest themes to portraits of legends like Lincoln and Sitting Bull, these pictures prove that sometimes a single photograph really can be worth a thousand words. You’ll see natural wonders documented for the first time, artistic breakthroughs that changed how we think about photography, and faces of people who made history. These images remind us why they say the camera never lies.
#1 Photograph Of French Actress Sarah Bernhardt
Image source: Nadar
#2 James Mye, Mashpee Wampanoag, 1860
Image source: wikimedia
#3 Sleeping, Homeless Children, 1890s
Image source: Jacob Riis
#4 Street Musicians, 1898-99
Image source: Eugene Atget
#5 Emil Racovitza As A Diver At The Banyuls-Sur-Mer Oceanographic Observatory. The Upside-Down Sign The Man Is Holding Says “Underwater Photography.”, 1899
Image source: Louis Boutan
#6 Sitting Bull And Buffalo Bill, 1895
Image source: William Notman and Son
#7 Portrait Of A Young Woman, Ethiopia, 1885-1888
Image source: Jacques Chirac
#8 Robert Howlett, Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before The Launching Chains Of The Great Eastern, 1875
Image source: Robert Howlett
#9 Fading Away, “Farewell To The Dying”, Considered The First Photograph To Deal With The Theme Of Passing, 1858
Image source: Henry Peach Robinson
#10 Boulevard Du Temple, Paris, 3rd Arrondissement, Daguerreotype. Made In 1838 By Inventor Louis Daguerre, This Is Believed To Be The Earliest Photograph Showing A Living Person, Circa 1838
Image source: Louis Daguerre
#11 Charging Thunder, A Sioux Indian From Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, 1900
Image source: Gertrude Kasebier
#12 Frederick Douglass Portrait, Circa 1860s
Image source: Picture History
#13 Pierrot Laughing, 1855
Image source: Adrien Alban Tournachon
#14 Close No. 193 High Street, Scotland, 1868
Image source: Thomas Annan
#15 Brig Upon The Water, 1856
Image source: Gustave Le Gray
#16 Abraham Lincoln, Candidate For U.S. President, Three-Quarter Length Portrait, Before Delivering His Cooper Union Address In New York City, 1860
Image source: Mathew Benjamin Brady
#17 Eruption Of The Geyser Old Faithful In Yellowstone Valley, 1870 Or 1871
Image source: William Henry Jackson
#18 A Native Hut, Circa 1890
Image source: Jacob F. Coonley
#19 John Mayall, Sergeant Dawson And His Daughter, 1855
Image source: John Jabez Edwin Mayall
#20 “Call, I Follow, I Follow, Let Me Die”, Model Is Mary Ann Hillier, Circa 1867
Image source: Julia Margaret Cameron
#21 Photo Of Lower Yellowstone Falls, Taken During The Hayden Expedition To Yellowstone, 1871
Image source: William Henry Jackson
#22 Ancient Ruins In The Canon De Chelle, 1873
Image source: Timothy O’Sullivan
#23 Fox Talbot, The Haystack, 1844
Image source: William Henry Fox Talbot
#24 Boston, As The Eagle And The Wild Goose See It, 1860
Image source: James Wallace Black
#25 Woman Seen From The Back, Circa 1862
#26 The Market Nassau, Circa 1890
Image source: Jacob F. Coonley
#27 The Maharani Of Nepal And Her Followers, 1885-1894
Image source: global nepali museum
#28 Schneider, 1863
Image source: Andre-Adolphe-Eugene Disderi
#29 Bandits Roost, 59 And A Half Mulberry Street, 1888
Image source: Jacob Riis
#30 Blacksmith Forging A Horshoe, C. 1859-1860
Image source: Summer A. Smith
#31 Portrait Of Sir Pratab Singh With His Entourage, India, 1882
Image source: Lala Deen Dayal
#32 Kitchen Of The 8th Hussar Unit, USA, 1855
Image source: Roger Fenton
#33 Great Chicago Fire, Men Stand Amid The Rubble At Lasalle Street And Washington, 1871
Image source: Rare historical photos
#34 Portrait Of Sir John Herschel, 1867
Image source: Julia Margaret Cameron
#35 East And West Shaking Hands At The Laying Of Last Rail Union Pacific Railroad, 1869
Image source: Andrew J. Russell
#36 Cathedral Rock, 1861
Image source: Carleton Watkins
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