The photograph above was posted at reddit with the claim that it was from the 1880s, and is the oldest photograph of a cat. That doesn't seem right at all, since photography was born in 1839. Sure, in the 19th century, it was difficult to take pictures of animals because they wouldn't sit still for the longer exposures necessary at the time, but surely someone took images of cats before 1880. And they did.
This daguerreotype image of a cat has been dated to somewhere between 1840 and 1860. While we cannot say for certain whether it is the first photograph taken of a cat, it is the earliest we know of, and possibly the oldest that still exists. It is only disappointing in that the cat's face is obscured while it eats. That was the photographer's way of getting the feline to stay still enough for a portrait. But what about the first dog picture? How about other animals? See the oldest known photographs of a dog, goat, horse, cow, crocodile, and more in an article at Medium.
#photography #pet #cat #vintagephotography #daguerreotype
The earliest photo of a living animal by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey.
A crocodile on board a ship on the Nile river in Egypt, photo by Ernest Benecke in 1852.
Man with Elephant is considered the earliest photo of an Asian elephant by Thomas MartinEasterly in 1850.
The earliest photograph of a hippopotamus by Juan, Count of Montizon, in 1852.