On this day in 1849, the first photograph of a US President was taken by Mathew Brady in New York City. President James Polk was the subject of the famous picture.

Photo History. The daguerreotype ~ the earliest photographic process ~ was announced in January 1839. It provided the first practical way to record a sharp image .

Earlier Technology. The daguerreotype combined earlier experiments with light-sensitive chemicals and the camera obscura technique that used the dark interior of a box, a glass lens, and mirrors. It then projected an image the artist could trace on paper.

All-New Daguerreotype. The Daguerreotype used a silver-coated copper plate that was sensitized and exposed in the camera, then developed over mercury vapor. The image was formed at the molecular level. The Daguerreotype image was special in that it gave great detail, clarity of definition, and a gradation of tones that is unlike anything we see in photography today.

The Photographer. Mathew Brady, is best known for the Civil War photographs that he made between 1860 and 1865. Before that, he was a leading portrait photographer in New York City and the most famous American photographer of his time. Brady also took the only photo of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg.

Six Degrees of Separation? In 1839, Brady was introduced to Samuel F. B. Morse, a professor of painting and design at New York University. Morse had just completed his invention of the telegraph in 1838, though it would be another six years before he could summon enough government support to establish the first telegraph line. Morse accepted Brady as a painting student.