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Robert Cornelius in 1839 (photographer)

Robert Cornelius (1809 – 1893) was an American photographer and pioneer in the history of photography. was born in Philadelphia

His daguerreotype self-portrait taken in 1839 is generally accepted as the first known photographic portrait of a person taken in the United States, and a significant achievement for self-portraiture.

He operated some of the earliest photography studios in the United States between 1840 and 1842 and implemented innovative techniques to significantly reduce the exposure time required for portraits.

Cornelius was an inventor, businessman and lamp manufacturer. He created and patented the "solar lamp" in 1843 which burned brighter and allowed for the use of cheaper lard as a fuel source rather than more expensive whale oil. He attended private school as a youth and took a particular interest in chemistry. In 1831, he began working for his father and specialized in silver plating and metal polishing.

In late September 1839, soon after the daguerreotype was publicized, Joseph Saxton took a picture of the Philadelphia Central High School, which is considered one of the oldest photographs taken in the United States.

Soon after, Saxton approached Cornelius in order to receive better daguerreotype plates. It was this meeting that sparked Cornelius's interest in photography. Around October 1839, Cornelius improvised a camera obscura and made his first daguerreotype, a self-portrait outside of his family store. The image required him to pose still for 10 to 15 minutes and has survived.

Other early images of his family made by Cornelius have not been preserved.

While Louis Daguerre's photograph of the Boulevard du Temple, taken one or two years earlier, incidentally included two people on the sidewalk, Cornelius' self-portrait is generally accepted as the oldest known intentional photographic portrait of a person made in the United States.