August 19, 2026

Wednesday

First Flight, First Photo

In today's journal

History's most famous liftoff was captured by someone who'd never seen a camera before.

Well I certainly learned something when reviewing today’s feature image. Turns out, that famous photograph was the first photograph ever taken by the photographer, John Daniels. In fact, that day was the first time he had seen a camera.

I’m struggling to find an analogy for this. Maybe it’s roughly equivalent to a baseball player hitting a grand slam in his MLB debut at bat, as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, his team down by three runs, and the count full. In the World Series.

What an absolute banger.

I can’t find any indication that Daniels continued in photography. Leave the game while you’re on top, I suppose.

post published in /2026/08/19 at 6:55 AM
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