{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O69110"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O69110/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AV3799/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AV3799/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AV3799","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF2868","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O69110/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O69110","accessionNumber":"PH.1-1986","objectType":"Daguerreotype","titles":[{"title":"Parliament Street from Trafalgar Square","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"This is the oldest photograph in the Museum’s collection. It is a daguerreotype, a unique image formed on a silvered copper plate. The daguerreotype was the first photographic process, publicised in January 1839. It was named after its inventor, Louis Daguerre. Just a few weeks after the French Government revealed the secrets of daguerreotypy  in Paris in August 1839, Monsieur de St Croix organized the first public demonstration of the process in London. This is therefore among the very first photographs taken in London. The scene is reversed – as is characteristic of the process – and the image on the shiny surface is difficult to read. However, once caught at the correct angle, amazing detail emerges. In the foreground there is a statue of Charles I and in the distance the royal Banqueting House. There are also traces of the people who stayed still long enough to register on the exposure, which probably lasted some minutes.","physicalDescription":"Whitehall From Trafalgar Square, daguerreotype.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"de Ste Croix, M.","id":"A6424"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Daguerreotype","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"},{"text":"Access to Images","id":""},{"text":"Images Online","id":"THES48937"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2006AV3799","2016JF2868"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"512M","id":"THES49774"},"free":"","case":"MX23","shelf":"2","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"daguerreotypes","id":"AAT127181"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1839","earliest":"1839-01-01","latest":"1839-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"20.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"16.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Whitehall From Trafalgar Square, daguerreotype by M. De Ste.Croix, London, Britain, 1839.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"p. 35","free":"The Origin of Photography: Great Britain. Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, 2019."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Parliament Street","id":"x36404"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Gallery 100, ‘History of photography’, 2011-2012, label text : \r\n\r\nAttributed to M. de Ste Croix\r\n(dates unknown, active 1839)\r\nParliament Street from Trafalgar Square\r\n1839\r\n\r\nThis daguerreotype is the oldest photograph in the\r\nV&A collection and among the first made in England.\r\nIt was taken by a Monsieur de Ste Croix as a public\r\ndemonstration just weeks after Louis Daguerre’s\r\nannouncement of photography. The incredibly\r\ndetailed image shows the statue of King Charles I\r\nin the foreground and the Royal Banqueting House\r\nin the distance.\r\n\r\nDaguerreotype\r\nMuseum no. Ph.1-1986\r\n\r\n","date":{"text":"07 03 2014","earliest":"2014-03-07","latest":"2014-03-07"}}],"partNumbers":["PH.1-1986"],"accessionNumberNum":"1","accessionNumberPrefix":"PH","accessionYear":1986,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-11","recordCreationDate":"2002-11-04","availableToBook":false}}