Paris 1838

This image, taken in Paris, France, by Louis Daguerre in 1838, is believed to be the earliest known photograph featuring a person.
Look in the photo's lower left corner and you'll see a man getting his boots cleaned on the sidewalk. The boot-cleaner is there too, although he is harder to spot.
It was taken by Louis Daguerre, the French photographer famous for pioneering the daguerreotype, an early type of photo produced on a silver plate or a silver-covered copper plate.
According to Retronaut's Amanda Uren, the exposure time for the image was around seven minutes. The street appears deserted because while the two human figures were relatively still, other pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages were moving too fast to register on the plate.
The photo shows the Boulevard du Temple, a then-fashionable area of shops, cafés and theaters.