Oldest Surviving Photograph Of A Woman (with her eyes open)
John William Draper, a British/American physician and chemist, was born May 5, 1811. During his life, Draper seemed to strive to be at the forefront of discovery and invention. He, along with many others listed here, was inspired by Daguerre’s studies and work. And he wanted to see what this invention meant for science. However, he also was a man with a personal life.
At first glance, you may believe the woman he took a photo of would be his wife. However, Draper featured another prominent female in his life: his sister, Dorothy Catherine Draper. But there were still limits to photographing a person. One of which being that the subject needed to be incredibly still for the longer exposure times. Luckily, Dorothy was up for the challenge. She sat unblinking for a 65-second exposure – giving us a beautifully haunting photograph and the first photo of a woman with her eyes open. Draper dusted her face with white flour to enhance the contrast. The result actually worked. Dorothy’s face is surprisingly natural. The Drapers still go down in history as being the oldest photo of a woman.
