The Hokumburg Goombah

Does anyone catch the woman sitting with a bonnet/hat and dark dress/coat, gloves with a white collar holding an object on her lap to the the far right there is another object possibly a person with only their upper body showing because it is behind a wall

I would have to agree this is possible the same person man/boy with a sign/bib attached to him.
Eunice Perris CA

Very cool find gentlemen. For what it's worth I do think that it's the same man. He started with the one foot up on wall or was down on his knee to say tie his shoe, then he stands up or steps up on the wall where he stands taking in the scenery and the exposure time expires. His movement from position 1 to 2 disappears do his movement and the long exposure time.
I believe this because of the similar clothes and the way they seem to hang on each figure.
Great find. And thanks for posting it.

Does anyone catch the woman sitting with a bonnet/hat and dark dress/coat, gloves with a white collar holding an object on her lap to the the far right there is another object possibly a person in front of her with only their upper body showing because it is behind a wall

I would have to agree this is possible the same person man/boy with a sign/bib attached to him.
Eunice Perris CA

Could be either way. I just find it interesting how the white shirts meet the dark line of clothing in an almost exact angle.
Either way, It's Cool.

If you follo links to the rochester university site , ten or more men can be seen in Plate 2 , right above the embassy steamboat. And look at the steamboats , can you see people sitting on the boats?

http://www.rochester.edu/news/photos/daguerreotype.html

Looks more like someone is proposing.

I think this is a pic of three people taller figure is a man shorter figure is a woman look at the curves and what some are calling a bucket or leg on wall is a small child holding the womens hand

pretty sure its bigfoot and his cousin medium foot.....

I have to agree with those believing it's just one person. The semi-transparency and similar white bibs clearly suggest this. Person on left with one leg up on the top of the wall and the person on the right is the same person and has now fully stepped up onto the wall and obliquely faces their former self. It could be 2 people but smart money would be on a single person. I don't see any bucket but the light passing through the left persons legs sort of looks like a bucket half-sunlit from the left. The bald spot of the person on the right may well be so and hints at 2 persons. I suspect the bald spot might be an illuminated rock or other bright spot on the hillside (there are a few others seen) that has lost sharpness due to being out of sight while the person's head was in front of it. The matching bibs suggest that there was indeed a bucket and that they were sharing a bucket steamed crawdads. Now after looking again, I actually think it's Huckelberry Finn and Jim on their raft, stopped along the river. The bright lumber is clearly fashioned into a slipshod A-frame structure to provide shelter from the sun and rain. For a second there I thought I saw the Mars Face on the hillside but it was just my imagination getting away from me.

firstly, these gentlemen definitely knew they were having there picture taken as it is clear that they are posing. secondly they clearly both have something white around their necks which i would assume to be a napkin or some piece of white cloth which may have been there due to the fact that they could have just earlier finished lunch. thirdly being that this photo was taken way back when i think that these gentlemen may have been early african american labourers who were definitely working on the docks.

It is definitely the same man in two positions, otherwise you could not see the pile of logs behind the man, THROUGH it's body. If you know how the daguerreotype works :P

He stayed in one position for about half of the time, and moved to the second position the other half of the time. Maybe a fisherman, as someone said before. Or well... could be two guys that stayed there for some time then they moved away, that is why the pile of woods behind can be seen through their bodies, but the similitude between them is too evident for such an assumption.

I think it looks like two grey aliens talking to each other about how people in the 21st century will probably look at the photograph and wondering:" who are they? "

I have cleaned up the photo still further (see [email protected] if want a copy), and it appears to me that these are two black men in formal wear (probably with bibbs). The gentleman on the left—sitting, with hands on knees--is wearing a straw hat, while his companion is standing and is wearing a "cut-away" coat, like the one Groucho Marx was famous for, with his hands in his pockets.

Details are hard to distinguish, but nothing like as difficult as examining the JFK assassination pictures. ; )

Anyone can cearly see it's a man and a woman, and he is on one knee proposing.

I believe it is one person caught twice. The image on the left is the man sitting on a railroad tie watching barge traffic. He then stands up with his foot on a block of wood or something. Both times he stays in that position for a minute or so. These type of photos had the lens uncovered for a long time. That is why the man appears to be a ghost. He moved while the lens was uncovered. Photography 150 years ago was totally different than it is today. They measured exposure time in minutes not parts of a second.

One guy waiting for his wife and daughters after church, so has lots of time to kill.

Go to this site there is more explination to the pictures. Because this was not the only one, it was a panorama with 8 plates. There are other pictures in the panorama that have people in it.
http://www.rochester.edu/news/photos/daguerreotype.html

I posted at 6:35 a.m. and need to correct myself. Exposure times in 1948 were typically around a minute, not minutes. By 1848 they had reduced the times through new processes.

I believe it is one guy, probably a 'dock worker' taking a quick smoke - even back then smokers were forced to go to the ends of the earth to take a puff! lol Also, he's looking West (downstream) for the next barge coming up the Ohio river, and since this is a daguerreotype (original French: daguerréotype) of Cincinnati, OH it was taken from Covington, KY on the south (or soon to be referred to as the "Confederate") side of the river.

Also, you can see his reflection caught in the water as he stood at both positions to get that unfiltered hit of nicotine..

My two cents: There is one man kneeling on one leg and the one standing is a child. They are fishing or throwing something into the water.

As for the white on their chests, maybe it is a reflection of medals being worn.

Beautiful blog...says a lady in Texas to one of the dogs...

i dont think they are superimposed,...i think they appear that way because of the several minute process it took to take these types of pictures,... its not a snap shot, it took minutes so i dont think that the images appear solid because they didnt get a chance to fully develop in the picture,... i could be wrong but i think it sounds good!

oh and i dont think its their chests that look like they have bibs on,.. i think that is their back ,... i think they are looking behind them at the barge

It is clear that is supported by one of his knees.

I think it is 2 men, the left one has his leg propped on the wall, the other man is standing, he probably started walking and that is why he is more transparent. I believe they were there building the dock :) It would explain the wood pile behind them and you can tell it is just starting to be built. It's possible they were taking a break from construction.

Kim

I wonder why no one has noticed that they are ghosts ! You can see right thru both of them ! You can see the wooden planks . Follow each plank and you will see that you can foolow the line right thru them ! Great find !

This has gone on far too long, so I guess it is time to draw some conclusions. There appears to be several dominant theories:
1) a propsal between two persons of unknown gender
2) time-lapse phenomenon of one person in two positions
3) aliens
4) ghosts
Some things can be assumed;
a) aliens did not exist until the late 1940's, so it must be ghosts
b) ghosts are known to propose to themselves;
c) there is no 'double' of the third mystery man discounting the time-lapse theory

There you have it: It is rare photo of a ghost proposing to himself /(do ghosts have gender?)itself.
Problem solved

It looks like the individual was in front of some piled lumber.

Daguerreotype exposure times could be quite long.

I think the person moved from sitting to his standing position or vice versa during the exposure. The movement would not show up. But, the background lumber or a moved body would as if superimposed.

That also explains horizontal lines running through the two figures.

Looks like a wedding proposal to me

Like a whole bunch of people said: It's one guy that stood long enough in one position and then the other position long enough to come out. he's transparent because he moved. everything else in the picture came out perfectly solid because it stayed still. :)

I'm surprised that no one sees what I see...I see a family. The tall one is the man on the right, and it looks like a woman on the left, holding a child's hand. She may be wearing a fancy dress that matched the man's bib. Maybe far fetched, but very interesting photograph. Thanks for sharing.

I don't think anyone is proposing. They both seem to be male from the shirts they are wearing . One is kneeling and one is standing . No time lapse. They're ghosts ! They aren't moving . It isn't distorted.

This has gone on far too long, so I guess it is time to draw some conclusions. There appears to be several dominant theories:
1) a propsal between two persons of unknown gender
2) time-lapse phenomenon of one person in two positions
3) aliens
4) ghosts
Some things can be assumed;
a) aliens did not exist until the late 1940's, so it must be ghosts
b) ghosts are known to propose to themselves;
c) there is no 'double' of the third mystery man discounting the time-lapse theory

There you have it: It is rare photo of a ghost proposing to himself /(do ghosts have gender?)itself.
Problem solved

to Schwartzetta: I don't think they are bibs. Working men back in that day and age, especially on a waterfront would wear bib aprons, especially made of leather, remember no washing machines back then, so they would keep their clothes as clean as they could. I like the bucket idea because any cursory student of history would know, they used BUCKETS for everything!It is an awesome pic and I thank Gig Thurmond and Robert Krulwich

Looks like a proposal to me

Hey couldn't we get a forensic photographer in on this...anyone volunteering??That's ok isn't it Mr Kulrich? This is fascinating...oh yes it is!

I can see the two stagnant positions or maybe they were just moving. Think about it, when you are moving in pics with a camera that doesn't take the most perfect photos, what happens? There's a blur. Why can't this be movement? Why can't one be kneeling because he dropped something on the ground? There could be so many theories here. Let's just take it for what it is...a great piece of history and leave it alone. Thank you for the photo!

it seems to me that it could also be a man and a woman, the man asking the woman to marry him.

I don't think they would've been slaves as the previous comment states. Free state in the north.

THAT's AN OPTICAL ILLUSION! those are metal post where boats tie their ropes..

I have examined the pic very carefully...I would almost swear that the two men are standing on a barge next to a pile of wood. What appears to be a sea wall, is actually a sideboard of the barge. The thingies that were put on barges to stop cargo from sliding off the sides!

plain illusion. you people got a lot of imagination on things..

I think I would have to go with the theory of a single man in two positions. He was trying to get up on the barrier, hence the kneeling type position, then when he got on top of the barrier, he was standing there. You'll notice that the standing figure is a lot more solid than the kneeling figure. This is simply because of the movement from one position to the next. When the figure finally stands, he is still and therefore the photo registers him in a more solid form.

If you hold your computer monitor in front of a bright light then play "memories" backwards on your 45, the one on the left looks just like Elvis ..... hmmmm, I don't know if it is or not, I'm just sayin'....

I think it's a man propsing to his twin... then it kinda freaked him out and they ran away (hence the transparency)

Those aren't bibs - those are their shirts - their pants are above the waist - that's the way they were worn those days -- and under their jackets they are probably wearing suspenders

clearly two different people, note the one standing appears to have a dress on, the one kneeling down appears to have some type of head covering. However with time lapse photography which this is what they did back then this could very well be one in the same person. These images can easily be attained learn how at Kodack's web site very simply

Looks like the same man because they look identical. This photo looks like it captured two movements.
I'm assuming this if this is the backside of the man: The image of the man kneeling would be the first movement and the upright image of the man would be the second movement.
1. Look at the first image. By the position of the shoulders and legs, he seems to be climbing upward, maybe starting from a lower level closer to the river. The difference of height between the two levels must have been steep from the postion of his left leg. He rested his left knee/leg on the ground and he is using his right leg to climb and lift himself to a standing/upright postion. The postion of the head and shoulders indicate a forward movement.
2. The second movement,he looks like he still climbing upward. He is using his right leg once again to lift/climb himself upward on this stack of lumber. The left shoulder of the man seems to be turned in maybe suggesting he used his left arm to grab onto something to help pull/climb up. The position of his head looks like he is looking up as if he were climbing.

Being that there is lumber in this photo and the reflection off the clothing, it looks like he was part of some construction project. Don't know if protective head gear existed at in this time period, but it looks like a helmet?

The first photograph of a recognizable human figure was by Daguerre in 1838 - a man getting a shoeshine on the sidewalks of Paree.
From the website:
http://listverse.com/2009/01/13/top-10-incredible-early-firsts-in-photography/

"the first photograph ever taken that captures the image of a man. The man is not clear and is slightly blurred (no doubt due to the long exposure required). The man can be seen in the foreground – fortunately he stood still long enough (getting his shoes polished) for the 10 minute exposure to include him. The image was taken by Louis Daguerre who invented the Daguerreotype – one of the earliest methods of photography......."
Here's the photograph:
http://listverse.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/800px-boulevard-du-temple-by-daguerre.jpg

(They have shadows in the water)...

Ok people surly u dont bleve that one of those people coul be a woman? I think that tampered with the photograph and put them there to see all the publicety they could get out of this. I mean think but it some of u say its kids and thats not what thy are men yea that it is but one a woman no way. But why gost they dont even egeist. So I think it is no one the just two authers wanting to be noticed in the hard times and this pic is the ticket for that.

To me the man on the left looks like he is sitting on the wood with his feet pointed out and the man on the right is just standing. Conversation maybe?

That can't be a guy down on one knee proposing to his girl, as I first thought. If this picture was taken in 1848, he girl's dress, unless she was barroom chippy, would be all the way to the ground. The length suggests a man's suit jacket.

There is also another picture taken by these people the same day where you can see the people in the picture and a horse drawn cart moving and leaving ghostly figures, which supports that this guy was probably moving as well.

http://www.rochester.edu/news/photos/daguerreotype.html

What's even more incredible, is the fact that these are BLACK MEN!!! We just can't deny that the Blacks are ALWAYS FIRST!!!

ventriloquist and his dummy

I don't know about this. The person's head is to round. Looks kinda like a lego figure.

Yall big dummy's they did not have camera's in the 1800's what a bunch of dumb___!

I think these images are photo shopped in, just look at the guy with his leg up on the wall, you can actually see right through him and see the crack in the dock and the wooden plank of the dock can be seen through him as well. Does anyone agree?

Do yall see the Cadilac in the picture too! What color do you think it is? I think it is blue with red flames that was popular in the early 1800's

It looks like two men, but then u can see right through them, so it could be first picture ever taken of ghost. lol

When looking closer at this photo you can see the timber through the images of the people? something strikes me as odd considering how crisp the image of the pile of wood behind them appears to be.

I believe the Cadilac is yellow with pink stars

I would definitely say the figure on the left (hard to tell if it's a man or not in my opinion. Seems like it could be a child) has its leg up on the wall. Now, I think it is totally possible that the one on the right could be the same figure at a different time point. Perhaps the person put his(?) leg up on the wall to get a boost up and then at the second point is standing on the wall. Or the reverse could possibly be true too (standing on the wall first and then getting down by making a movement like getting off a horse). It's an interesting question that we'll never know the answer to.

I think they were talking about that tall, young lawyer from Illinois and how to get him into the white house...or possibly if a civil war would set their cousin (taking the photo) free.

I think it's a father and son. The father is balding and obviously the son is younger, thus shorter. The "bucket" is a post or piling for retaining what looks like a seawall and/or a tie up post for a river boat. You can see the crude ramp or warf that leads to shore. It's Sunday, so they are out for a walk after lunch and are standing there looking at the water go by. If they are fishing, their poles are too small to be picked up by the exposure or keep moving so they don't register. Pretty interesting. Thanks for the blog and post.

If you blow it up the wall is not a wall, but a ramp for carriages and or carts to be put on the boat. It is 2 men, the taller is balding with a coat, left leg on top of ramp, left hand on knee. Man on left knelling on right knee left arm on left knee.

at first glance to me it looks like a man on his knees proposing to the other person.

It looks like the man is proposing. Just look at it!

I think they are space aliens. They parked there spacecraft on fountaion square and it was towed by some mexican or slave from the south.

Ok...Now I am no expert, and this photo is surprisingly clear for it's composition... This is like a Rorschach Test; everybody seeing what they want to see however I believe the main description I had read is totally wrong. (not so) Clearly it is two seperate men, if it were the same man in two positions, the boat would be blurry from the extended exposure, at the very least. The man standing seems to be looking into the water, notice he has a shiny head, suggesting he is balding, while the man sitting, looking in the camera's direction, has a dark, lesser defined area around the top of his head suggesting hair. The man sitting does not have one leg up, look again and it would appear that he is sitting with feet out and there is the faint appearance of an arm on his right leg, as well as one on his left leg to support this. The standing man is standing nearly in profile, with his left foot/leg forward, his left arm at is side. Personally I would say you dropped the ball on this one, but then again, everyone sees something different.

My first comment was Oct. 28, 2010 8:09

I do believe he is climbing upward. I clicked on the link of the blog noted in above in this blog. It brought me to a larger scale of this photo.( http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2010/09/20/129990964/once-in-a-lifetime-river-tour-starts-here-unfortunately-everybody-s-dead )

Well by the scenery, it looks like he may be a dock/construction worker. It looks like he may be headed toward the path above him.

*Follow the path up the hill barely passing the corner of the first building along the path. Zoom in. Just a little ways in front of the tree, there is image of another man. I can not make out the head, but it seems this man is walking and dressed in a suit.

* Look just above the piolet house of the ship in the middle. Look at the first smaller, dingy white building/home that stands lone in front of a row buildings in the back of it. There is a tall post that stands left of the house. In between the post and the home, it looks like a faint image of a woman in a bright white dress. This may just be an illusion because looking at the angle of the light relecting in front of the home, it may be a continuation of the reflected light of the sun off the building. But there seems to me a definitive shadow casted on the post. If this woman was standing for the entire time of this shot, it would explain the pronounced shadow on the post.

Pretty obvious....one man..Pete Rose before and after the Hair Club for Men.

Its just some guy kneeling talking to his friend probably looking out at the lake port bay river whatever maybe at a ship. I dont see how the man on the left looking at the picture could be standing especially compared to the other guy who clearly is. He has to be kneeling.

OK people - you should actually investigate daguerreotype photography. Once you do, you will see that that type of photography required the person to stand for a long time (10 minutes in the earliest days of the practice) in order for the image to be made. If they were moving, nothing would show. So for the comments stating they see other people "walking," that would not be correct because those "figures/people" wouldn't have stood still long enough to be in the picture. You must remember those were the earliest days of photography & not like our cameras today that can catch people in mid-stride.

And as for the images themselves, it seems both people are facing and looking out over the water.

I agree with the "one person/2 images" theory. As for the "ghostly" transparent appearance, that could be attributed to the person not staying in a position long enough to become impressed on the plate as a more definite image.

In my opinion, he/they are on what appears to be a wooden barge. Maybe somehow affixed to the shore to be a make-shift dock. Looking to the right side of the picture, you can see what could possibly be wooden platform of the "barge" resting on the water.

I personally think that image seems to be of a man down on one knee, possibly proposing to a woman.

So no one has answered the biggest question.... why can I see through them? is it how the film was then? was it superimposed as Rett suggests? Or is it ghosts caught on camera? Or better yet, a space ailien (LOL)

They are wearing bibs so they can eat the Lobsters they are gonna catch. Duh!!

Of course, one person holding still and then changing position and holding still some more, he's fishing.

I love history! And a good mystery! lol thanks for this post! I really think it is two men, just taking a walk and they stopped to look over the river - with these photos, I thought if an image moved it wouldnt appear at all? or in the very least not this clearly - ? I am curious now!
I can't tell about the "wall" if the second man is standing on it, or behind it...

ok i can see the idea of someone fetching water over the knee idea. I've looked at it for a while and if the one guy has his knee up then why does that 'bucket' looking shape, that everyone says is his left or right "knee", be on both sides of him?

Personally I can beleive that its 2 people not 1 moving, who stopped what they where doing to look to the opposite shore, which is almost 'directly' at the camera, because they where wondering what the two photographers where doing on the opposite shore. Hell if I saw someone standing behind something strange stairing in my direction I'd stop too, to see what it was.

I saw something strange cause I'm not photographer myself or a historian on the early cameras. So I ask what did the camera look like? Wouldn't be something weird to see at that time? Also wasn't this suppose to be maybe 10-15 years after that first camera? And if those are buckets (ya they do look like that to me) then why are they taking water from the Ohio River?

Oh and sorry my spelling is bad early in the morning...lol if not all the time =P

Sigh. It is so obvious that there are too many people who haven't had a basic humanities class. This type of photograph, one of the very first types ever developed, took not several seconds, but several minutes to expose. Those are not ghosts- they are most likely the same person in two different poses. The see through look is because of the long time it takes to put the image onto the plate. They didn't have batteries back then and it took several chemical methods to take a picture. It is an interesting piece of US history. Thank you for sharing it with us.

The modified image does appear to be two people, one with a leg hiked on the wall while the other person is standing on the wall.

If you review the shadows in the photo the "shorter" person may be a woman whose lower torso is shaded by her breasts. The shadows elsewhere appear to be consistent with this possibility.

john a.

There does seem to be a man walking next to the building on the path if you zoomed in.

The year from this photo dates to the year 1848.
Research a little on daguerreotype. You can find whats believed to be the first photograph of a person, on the streets of Paris getting his shoe shined in 1839 http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/35712, almost 10 years before this photograph. Depending on what the man was actually doing in this photograph, he could have been standing for awhile then took a step out. The skill of the photographer and sometimes things just happen by chance pop up sometimes for no reason.

ops almost forgot...the "bibs"...isn't a white buffed shirt part of the common style back then? Or if not the commoner what about the higher class? Kind of reminds me of a Victorian style outfit. Figured that is what the "bib" was. Cause look at the guy on the right, near his hands/ end of his arms. Doesn't it look like that Victorian style of shirt/ sleeve where it kind of hangs long and the back side of the sleeve?

Does to me.

From photography being my hobby and me having long time knowledge of river/sea vessels,my theory is that there are two men,not just one,and the man on the left,is not sitting nor nealing,he is actually standing,with his left leg propped up on the river wall.The two men appear to be dock men,which are men who help the captain dock his vessel,without running into the river wall.The men appear to be wearing bright colored bibs,which may have been a way to make them visible in order to signal or flag to the crew men or captain on the vessel.The vessel appears to be getting ready to dock,because the vessel is close to the river wall.Which explains why the two men are standing there,both wearing similar clothing,and seem to be getting ready for something.

I see a gentleman who was on a casual stroll, he checked out the waters, good for small conversation later. He's stopped in the image, most likely relaxing before he makes the walk back in not so comfortable shoes. The bib and sizes prove it's one dude.

Knowing Cincinnati, the waterfront today is not the most pleasant spot, and at the time of the picture it was a heavily trafficed workplace, dangerous and, literally, an open sewer. Given the dirt and the stench, it was not the place for a Sunday promenade, and certainly not a romantic proposal spot by early Victorian standards. If there is a man kneelling in front of a woman, he's probably cleaning something nasty off the hem of her dress. More likely, it is one man, who paused to do something...light a pipe? button his coat?...and was caught by the exposure. Before moving on, he noticed the two men on the other side of the river doing something very strange, and he turned, moved closer to the wall, put his leg up to steady himself, leaned forward and watched them watching him. Impossible to say if he's a slave or not...a sailor, a stevedore; he was someone who had reason to be on the waterfront early on a Sunday morning, when anyone who didn't absolutely need to be there would me somewhere more hospitable. It seems likely though that this is an early photo of someone watching the act of taking a photo. Unlike the Paris picture of the shoeshine, this man may have been aware of the photographers, although he had no idea of what in the world they were doing over there.

There does appear to be another figure in the same photo. Up the street and to the right of the building that says F.A. Miller Painter, just above the shadow of that building and in front of the buggy on the street. The quality of this photo is absolutely amazing. Fun and exciting, thanks.

To me they look like two young men of African heritage. One with his leg up and the other barely bending over with his hands on one thigh. If they are black, this could explain the "formal" garb they are wearing. Perhaps they are servants in a home nearby?

The person standing on the wall looks as if he's going bald! It HAS to be a man! I mean, they BOTH are wearing the same thing; nice jacket, nice shirt, nice pants...maybe they are just hanging by the river after church or a brunch...I don't see how the other guy looks like he IS or WAS proposing to his girl because 1, there isn't a girl around (from what I can see at least) and 2, why would the girl be standing on the WALL while the guy is proposing?? If he had already proposed and he's just chillin' for a minute (maybe whit his bud that just walked up, and who is now on the wall) and he was still in the same position as he was when he proposed, then the girl would have had to have been on the wall! Back then girls had to be ladies, so I doubt they climbed walls by the river (or any walls in general) and walked on them (or stood on them)! I may be wrong but that's what it looks like to me...

I see a fireman in the lookout tower on top of the fire station.

I think it's the same person who moves during the photo from one spot to another that's why there is no details on his face.

I believe that there are two men just taking a break from work. Those bibs are probably for protection and most likely are reflectors. the man closest to the water looks as if he is holding a coffee thermos. There must have been a work mill or something close by.
But, the world may never know...
Best wishes in your adventures.

A fellow Photographer...

I think the person on the left is a parental
figure kneeling and the other is a 6 or 7 yr. old child possibly a girl and they are looking at the water

I think it looks like we're witnessing a marriage proposal.

Pretty sure someone's standing on the top deck at the bow of the boat in middle of the picture. Looks like a uniform and hat, reminds me of the old train porter uniforms. This just keeps getting better.

Two men in the photo... the one on the left is kneeling wearing a hat, and a tall buttoned vest with a long sleeve shirt. The one on the right, apparently standing (to the photographer)with one leg in front of the other, is wearing a long coat with a low cut vest and no hat. If this were a woman, she'd be wearing a dress and some sort of headdress, not have a exposed receeding hairline and a suntanned face. The transparency is due to them moving during the exposure, picking up the background in finer detail. I also believe that the men were once standing ( for a brief moment)to the left (their right)approx. 7 to 9 feet. If you would notice the two faint " apparations" to the left ( the darker one would be the kneeling man -standing- with the black clothing and the other is the man in the gray suit, the light spots are their shirts. Notice also the 4 silhouetted shadows reflecting on the water (2nd from the left is faint due to faint exposure of the man in the gray suit). I believe that the men were in the kneeling - standing positions when the photographer first started the exposure and then they had moved to the left and were moving around during the last part of the exposure. this is my opinion.

It actually looks like it could be an adult and a child. Perhaps preparing to go fishing? I don't necessarily see anything that resemble fishing poles, but the shutter would have to be pretty advanced (at least in my own unprofessional photography mind) to catch two images of the same figure in one shot! Or the figure would have to be moving pretty fast.

I'm the one who noted the man next to the building. I done my research, cant't explain it but their is a man there.

I'm a photoshop/photoprogram junkie and just toyed with his image by using technology from this time period. From muniupulating the brightness, contrast, midtones, etc...I think I have his face. It also appears he is wearing a top-hat type on his head. The hat appears to have a band around it.
Wish I could paste the image here...

OK, so if anyone should read this, by the time you make your way through all of the other posts, it appears to be the same person, who just moved his position from one place to another. They both have the identical "bib" on their fronts and he is just turned more to his side. The exposure time had to be alot longer than a nano second, hence the double exposure of the same form. You had to have a very long exposure to get this impression on the plate with the materials used, hence the "ghost-like features. Take your SLR out at night and /s a flash, leave the exposure open, stand in the pic and then move to another postion for some time, you'll get the same type of image. Yes, I have no imagination.

Whatever those figures are, they are definitely NOT people. In the close up view, I can clearly see the dock THROUGH the figures. That could not happen with solid people.

A daguerreotype made my Daguerre in 1839 depicts the first human being ever photographed - a man having his shoes shined. He was the only person on the crowded street who held still long enough to captured during the long exposure.

Scan here: http://i.imgur.com/xpCTj.jpg

Source: Light and Vision; Life Science Library, 1966

MajorTom's rigorous analysis stands alone as the definitive explanation. His is a more informed opinion than that of 'dog who can read' who clearly has not read up on that philandering card cheat George A. Winchester.

There are three people in this picture. Two at the dock and one crossing the street let side heading up the alley. Looking either down at the dock or back behind him. Same white neck shirt as people on dock with a black suit or outfit.

Other plates from the series show ghost images of people (and carriages) that moved during the photo shot. I think this shot definitely shows one person in two positions.

Maybe it’s a man proposing to a woman.

I think it's two ghosts. Just saying.

I see 2 African Americans fishing. Man on left is fishing, sitting on his bucket. Smaller man or boy on right is obviously watching.

Its funny, that they r standing as if to be waiting for something, maybe a boat.They look holographic.Maybe they are paranormal beings.

I think it looks like the person is proposing to the other.

There is more info at Univ of Rochester website rochester.edu (can't post url)search Cincinnati Daguerreotype. Apparently there are a total of 8 plates.

one ? why does this matter at all i just dont understand

Answer to "Anonymous said": If it were someone proposing wouldn't that mean its the first gay proposal caught on film...

I looked at the picture in a bigger view, and I noticed that the one standing up isn't wearing a dress so it couldn't possibly be a girl, and the one kneeling down isn't facing the other person, he's facing out toward the water, so he isn't proposing. I also agree that he's the same person. Probably fishing or waiting for someone. But, hey, that's just my opinion.

Ok kids...It's obvious the movement causes 2 figures.Take it for what it's TRUE value is...ART and nostalgia...Memories of a time mostly forgotten. We all need to just slow down.

Peace,

Steve

To me, this is one person in two positions. I was sure of that as soon as I saw it, even before reading the comments here. Using this technology, an exposure could last 5 to 15 minutes which is why you see people standing stiff and not smiling in old photographs. The guy here didn't know he was posing for a picture, so he decided to take a step forward and sit on a log after standing for a while. This theory is even more plausible when you consider the translucent effect. There really isn't a lot of mystery here.

One man has a hat which looks like the hat of the cavalry and the other man is standing on the wharf and is lifting, hauling something out of the water, perhaps a fish-trap, something with a round shape just above the water

There's a big difference in the size of the legs between the figure on the left and the figure on the right. The one on the right has normal looking skinny legs. However for the one on the left to be showing two legs (instead of a couple of items sitting on the edge in front of him) he would have to be wearing clown pants or really large waders (for which I see no purpose on the dock). I can't figure out what they have (he has) on to reflect light across such a large area, other than a breastplate, which is a really ridiculous idea...

It almost looks like the person on the left is down on one knee. "he" appears to be looking up at the other person. But when you click to make it larger, focus on his left leg. The angle that it is at makes it almost impossible for him to be standing. Even if he was standing behind something, that leg would be straight.

I think I have to agree with the much earlier answer as to why you can see through them....they are bad liars.

It appears to me to be two exposures of the same man. Possibly in the image on the left he is stepping up on to the wall (or he stays in that position with one leg on the wall for a bit) and then the image on the right he is on top of the wall. He would be transparent because of the long exposure and his movement I suppose.

I think it's the same person, just caught in the slow exposure. He looks like he's wearing a common victorian black suit with a victorian ascot. So intriguing!

Now see when I looked at the bigger image, once clicking on the small, it looked to me as if the one on the right could be a slight bit too transparent to be a solid being. I say this because the boards on the dock or wharf and the openings that run between the boards of this dock seem to go right through this "man" on the left. As if, he is not there, but a ghostly type anomaly. Whereas, the man to the right that is possibly standing at the edge of this dock- wharf, whatever it is- is more the solid object and has no transparency to him. I say him because in that day a female would have worn a dress. Due to the way images were made during this time period it would be a plausible assumption to think maybe the two are one in the same, and the left is the ghost image of the right…Maybe?

looks like a former slave in deep thought.

THank you for sharing this photo, it truly is photography at it's greatest. I also believe it to be 2 males, doing what who knows, but please remember the dress attire in that era. Women could not wear pants, and men (fishing or not) were always relatively nicely dressed. But non the less a beautiful shoot, it leaves alot to the imagination as to what the two individulas were actually doing.

Looks like the guy on the left is kneeling and proposing to a woman who is standing on the left.

To me it looks like a crudely made wooden barge that is docked at the water's edge. I think the 2 men are posing for their friend across the river with the camera (maybe they used the barge to drop him off and return to the opposite shore). I think that wall-looking thing the figure on the left is standing behind is the side of the barge. The standing figure on the right is not a woman, as someone above suggested--women wore long skirts back then. Even looks to me as though the standing figure is balding--there is a reflection there! Cool photo, by the way--thanks for posting!

Maybe it is 2 people and this is the first picture of one person purposing to another

TO ALL: I believe there is one major detail that is being over-looked by all of you. This will dispell the double exposure theory. The guy on the right is BALDing. The forward top of his head is shining (from the sunlight) and he has long hair in the back(like Ben Franklin wore his hair). He is standing with his left knee slightly bent, and his left hand on it. You can also see what maybe a pocket watch dangling on his left side just below his waist. The Gentalman on the left is definatly kneeling on his right knee. You can see just a little portion of his pantsleg at the calf muscle of his right leg. He has plenty of hair.

I would suggest that these two men own the company that is construct a new dock and roadway for access to another paddle boat.
They are both looking in the same direction.

I believe "Now you have the rest of the story."

What do You think?

It's kind of stupid to say "OMG it's so obvious, I can't believe you don't see it". We don't know what was captured here, we can only speculate.

I'd say it's extremely unlikely that it's a single person. Alone on the dock? Standing still for a few minutes, then quickly changing positions and freezing in place again? There are two people talking or fishing.

It's just as unlikely that one of them is kneeling. Just answer this question: how often do you kneel, ever? Also, the figure looks to be facing the camera.

There could be a wall, but I don't think so. It's too unlikely that someone would have his knee up like that, and that the other guy would be up on a ledge. He's probably just standing straight and the other one is sitting down (as someone else speculated). That's usually the case when you see people in different vertical positions.

Just because the shapes are transparent doesn't mean there's only one person, or anything else. Any object that is not stationary in the frame for the entire exposure will be 'transparent' to some degree, since there will be background exposed in the same place as well.

(I only read the first 50 or so comments so this may have been said before.)

What makes everyone think that these are men ? I am more inclined to think the creature standing behind is a woman in a frock/skirt. Study the shadow carefully..

These could be two women coming to wash clothes in the river. The one in the front actually washing or pick up clothes.

i think it is ghosts. the head looks shiny like a skull and you can see through them. i think it was spirits not people.

The man on the left, appears to be wearing a hat. So I don't think it is the same man in two different poses. Very interesting stuff none-the-less.

I think it's a man proposing to another man, which may be the first recorded instance of gay marriage in history.

What is wrong with the head of the one on the right?

I think the person on right is a woman that stands on the wooden wall and looking into the water, and the person on left is a man, left knee up, also looking in the water. It is like she took a little risky step closer to the water

Sorry, but I don't really understand all these thing about this picture..and 2 people and stuffs...what's so big about this?

Think of the transparency of the person(s)in this photo as if you put a camera on a stand and took several shots. If you can imagine placing the layers on top of each other in sequence, this would give the illusion of transparency. This would cause the "See through effect".
The technique they probably used during this time required long exposure times.

Why is this a big deal? If you look at the other plates in the series, there are people everywhere that are much clearer than these (this) person. On plate 2, there is a man wearing a top hat standing on a sloped field walking towards the waterfront. Another plate has several people standing around a building or perhaps a bar. As for this plate, I think it is the same person positioned differently on one long exposure. The man with the top hat on plate two also has a "ghost" several feet behind him where he paused on his walk down.

they are ghost from the past trying to claim thier 15 mins. of fame and fortune

A lot of the comments here are just silly, so I stopped reading all of them; however, I just have to say that THIS IS NOT A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL. A woman in 1848 would have been wearing a full skirt. The person on the right is clearly not wearing a skirt/dress, but trousers and a jacket

IT'S 2 GHOST OF SLAVES LOOKING AT THE WORK ALL THE BLACK PEOPLE DID FOR THIS COUNTRY IN THE 1800'S. READ SOME "REAL" HISTORY AND YOU'LL FIGURE IT OUT.

After seeing this and viewing the other link to this photo i've noticed that someone else left and intersting comment. There is a 'person' sitting on a log just to the left of the LATHE-FACTORY sign. Also in viewing this photo I wonder what some of you are smoking?? How can you get a man proposing?? Seriously, woman wore multi layered dresses that were thick and CLEARLY VISIBLE. There is no bucket people, and this is not to adult men, they appear to be young males. Also they are black. Someone posted that "how can you tell? these photos make everyone look black" UH hello, white contrast of there "bib"/"shirt" against very obvious dark skin. the left male is kneeling with left arm on knee, the other is slightly turned inward and it almost looks as if his head is bald or partially shaved. There is an African tribe that does shave the frontal part of the head. Just my thoughts, coming from someone who has to view very faded numbers and ID markers often.

the second plate mentioned on comment 142pm. If you compare that plate with the first one from the krulwich log, note the buildings in the background. Different time periods.
It is most likey the same man in 2 different postions. Likely caught because he held these positions the longest.

It looks like a man proposing.

Hurry up and put some google adsense and a few popups/unders on here! You could make a few grand before your 15 minutes of fame is over! roflcopter :D

It looks like two children to me. Joan

1 man kneeling in front of another man, facing him.The man standing's zipper is down. That's disgusting

it looks like the one on the left is proposing

Its only one man and his shadow

I suggest that the man or men are dressed to appear in public, as civilized folks did back then, which is why the shirts look like bibs, peeking out from the coat. You can see the coat tails, as well. Two men or one man, either way, they or him managed to stand still enough to be caught on film, but not long enough to avoid a ghostly look.

It appears to me that the man on the left is
kneeling. It also appears possible that the
"man" on the right could be a woman. You know,
it looks for all the world like the guy on the
left is proposing.

Nice picture. However, i think that the two people are not men. I think one standing up is a woman. Maybe the man is proposing to her...Just a theory. It's how I see it.

If you look at Dageurre's 'first' photo of a human (Boulevard du Temple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boulevard_du_Temple_by_Daguerre.jpg)you can see that the figures here are also rather blurry and seem to be lacking substance a bit. The process of making a Dageurreotype took at least 10 minutes--so if these people or one person was on the dock their images would show up as very blurred and unsubstantial, just as they actually do. The Paris street example I linked is of a busy street--the traffic doesn't even show up. The people only do because they were relatively stationary for the time it took to complete the process (that also explains why their images show up as completely black in the photo). Since Daguerreotypes rely on the reaction of metals to light, it would be tricky to have an exposure time short enough to actually catch a moving human (rather than a sitting portrait)...

they look like pilgrams

same guy, baiting and fishing, long expsure time

looks like a marriage proposal to me taking a knee

I am not sure how photography worked back then but it sure looks like the seams of the boards can be seen through them. Are they humans?

One man (boy) fishing--two positions. Likely holding a cane pole in his right hand and moving it too much to see it in the photo. Note that both poses lack much in the way of a right arm. This is likely an artifact of constant movement--jigging the bait.

this is an excellent point of view- it seems that you really checked very good this pictures from all aspects.

I THINK THE IMAGES ARE OF A FAMILY OF 3 PEOPLE. THE SUN IS SHINING FROM THE LEFT & THEY ARE LOOKING DOWN RIVER. BOTH ADULTS WHITE SHIRTS ARE REFLECTING THE SUNLIGHT. THE WOMEN IS HOLDING THEIR CHILD'S HAND & HE IS IN HER SHADOW. THEN, THE FATHER (THE TALLER FIGURE)IS STANDING BEHIND THEM.

I SHOULD PROOF READ BEFORE POSTING. MY SPELLING IS ATROCEOUUUUUS.

Could it be that both images are of the same man? The right image is walking down to the wall and the left image is when he has arrived and put his leg up on the wall.

These look like to young black men. Given the historical period and location, they may have been free blacks scouting the river for escaped slaves and leading them to freedom in the North.

I'm with Rett, superimposed, the two figures look transparent and what are those white areas where their chest would be?

I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but do you see what appears to be two people walking away just to the left of the head in the so-called left figure?

Okay, back to reality...My opinion is that since these early photos had such long exposures this is an image of one person walking up to the edge of the wharf and then putting one leg up on the wharf's edge. He may have stopped for a time so that he was captured in the rightmost (rearmost) location as he walked diagonally to the left (forward in perspective). I notice two "spots" similar to and to the left of the head of the "image in the foreground." I also notice what looks like a rough outline of that same image to the left of the "image in the foreground." These appear to be momentary "snap-shots" or captures of the man's image as he moved to the right once he approach the edge of the wharf.

Just my humble opinion. Jay

Both men are standing erect.
Looks to me like the planking (ramp) leading to the seawall is at a lower elevation than the top of the sea wall. The man on the right is standing part way up this ramp which makes him appear to be standing on top of the seawall. The man on the lef is standing closer to the back side of the seawall which makes him look shorter. The blotch beside the man on the left could be anything. Both men appear to be looking at something out in the river to their left.

If the person on the left is an adult, than the person on the wall is a child.

one of them is clearly talking on a cell phone.

What a lot of discussion by reading dogs & others, for a scene that existed for a few minutes on a Sunday in 1848!

The person on the left in the pic. looks to be an adult, standing behind the front wall with his left leg up on the wall. the light area behind him & left of his vertical leg is such that if he had no support from the left leg, he would fall over.

Since the exposure was for tens of seconds (1848 daguerreotype), if they moved at all they would be a little fuzzy, compared to the rather stationary dock on which they are standing. Sorry, even in 1848 people didn't stand absolutely still for 30 secs at a time, any more than today. Set up a camera on a tripod, use a shutter release, and crank off some shots of a friend standing a few yards away. Overlay the photos and you'll see that people do sway back and forth a bit.

Can you imagine the resolution of the lens involved, to retain _any_ detail of the wharf at that distance & magnification? I"m very impressed, esp. for 1848.

As for the white area under their chins - those appear as shirts under a 'waistcoat' type of coat, suitable for the period.

It looks like two men taking their ease on Sunday. They worked the other 6 days.

Let's not get carried away, OK?

Several factors in this photo can be solved by researching fashion of the times. First off the big white thing around their neck is called a cravat. Both figures have large cravats on, so you can pretty much conclude that it's not a man proposing to a woman because women didn't wear cravats.

Also if it was a female she would have been wearing a long dress most likely. Generally slaves did not wear cravats as much, so I don't think this was a slave. Also children didn't wear cravats either.. this was generally like the antique version of a tie.

I also agree with the other posts that this is one person, two different poses. It appears to me that he stops by the river, props up his leg for a moment on the wall, rests his hand on his knee, and gazes on the river, then climbs up to the edge and looks at the river in the other "pose". I don't think they were fishing with fancy cravats on.

The top hat makes sense for that day and age, and they often wore large feathers in their hats. So this big white spot may have been a big white feather in the top hat. It could also be like another person said, a rock in the background showing through the semi-transparent image. Look at the style of clothing George Washington was wearing on your dollar bill.

I have to say that many of these responses having me cracking up! Alien ghosts fishing and waiting to go on an aquatic dinosaur ride with Adam and Eve, indeed!

Looks like two ghosts... I hear voices... ahh... good blog... very interesting persepective in thinking how time was frozen by pictures not too long ago... how time is lived throught and how time is always past... this is the earliest picture of a person in the history of the world... the day that history would forever change how we as a human species record our past as SIGHT... scultures, morals, paintings, architecture, books, theory, facts will survive everlast... but timing the moment has never happened until this very photograph... now lets keep in mind that photography has been around... this isnt the first photograph... stills have been around long before thia picture and think of HieroglypS, which are very old... but thats not what we are talking about here... its the birth, genesis, break of dawn (what ever you want to call it), beginning of the digtal history of human civilization... just like a sculpture... so, to the owners of the original piece, keep it safe... but it still looks like ghosts... since it took quite some time to take this picture cause cameras were not nearly as fast as our digital cameras today... these cool cats must have had some talk... they didnt move and they were perfectly still... only the motion of the of the water creates that ghostly image... like I said... interesting

After the way Juan Williams was treated, I wouldn't trust anything remotely connected to NPr.

These two guys are at the end of a dock. The guy on the right is turned slightly towards the other guy with his left leg up on the edge of the dock. His left hand is resting on top of his left thigh. The guy on the left is down on his right knee with his left leg bent and his left arm across. He is wearing a long sleeve shirt and a vest so I don't think they are workers. I think it is maybe a Sunday or something like that and they are looking down towards the water, as a possible place to fish.Or about work that they have done or are going to do to the dock.The guy kneeling also looks like he could be holding something in his left hand, it is possible that he is already fishing and the other guy just came by to see if he had caught anything.

Im the guy in the photo, and i was smoking a joint, waiting for the boading call for the boat. was many years ago, still remember that day.

Josiah? Is it really you? It's me Edwin. Damn, I thought you were a goner that day back in 1848.
Remember we were just hanging out doin' a little reefer when the barge crsashed into the dock...and you jumped, I swear, about 12 feet in the air, but the strangest thing was when you just hung there, like you was suspended, for a good 10 minutes. When you landed you look like you saw a ghost! Man, we had us some good stuff that day.......

o.k in my mind it's two people so uhh people didn't Exist in 1848? orr am i missing something okayyy it's a picture, of two people and ??

No, people did not exist in 1848!!!! People were discovered shortly after the Civil War!!

That is definitely a man preposing to a woman

No Way is it someone proposing! If you would all recall the date the picture is taken it is in the 1800s and no woman in their right mind would wear pants! To me it looks lije two chaps talking to each other down near the water.

The guy on the left looks sort-of like Juan Williams. The guy on the right is wearing some sort of Muslim garb.

I think this is so neat! Im not from the US but its always nice to see things from way back when!

Thanks so much for sharing!!

and PEOPLE if it were two "kids" fetchin water, what kids wear "white" as in a cravat aka neck band.

Im sure any parent would NOT let their child fetch water in their "sunday clothing"

And i dont belive that it is two men. Is says that it was expsed to long. Is like a camera taking the picture to long. So the guy could have been standing then bent down. Even the horse an buggy. It could have been taken it standing but with the camera still taking a picture caught the "ghost" of it s many yards away.

This one is pretty easy to me. It is a boy kneeling and a girl looking down into the water as they feed the ducks. I say ducks as the water looks amazingly calm, but with some mysterious shapes towards where the kids are. If you have done this lately with your kids, you can easily see that these are the typical poses when duck feeding.

you guys arent paying attention to the water. if these were people, their shadows would have been in the reflection of the water (notice how there shadows of the bank but not them) they are obviousl either smudges from the process or they're ghost...yes they are people---dead people

wow....lots of activity here....amazing.

It's almost Halloween, so these are ghosts, naturally. :-) Anyhoo, I think it's two different people, and the guy on the left is actually sitting on something small that can't be seen from the view. Perhaps they were fishing.

obviously its two different people. How could it be the same person???

Daguerreotype has a very long exposure time, and a couple of people who were unaware of being photographed couldn't be counted on to stand still.

Meanwhile, the wall/dock/whatever wasn't moving, so it shows sharp and clear, while the people show blurred and semi-transparent.

To me, it seems obvious that it`s the same man. The reason why there aren`t two of everything else is that everything else stays still, and people don`t. So the long exposure time in such old photography would capture stationary things in a solid way, and moving things in a way that looks transparent: hence why you can see through both pictures. The man is wearing identical clothes, facing the same way, and has the same body language: the change in reflection on the head is just due to moving into the sun. I would guess that he has stood up for longer than crouching down, which is why the standing figure is more prominent. And the position of the leg while crouching is wrong for a body, so could it be something like a dog? If the dog didn`t move but the man did, that would explain why there is only one small dark image and not two.

Really interesting though.

I agree with the person that said the man on the left is kneeling. I would say he is possibly black the man on the left. The man on the right is probably white. They are standing on equal ground. They are both wearing bibs but the black man's is shorter than the white man's bib which could date the picture more accurately. It would take more research but it would have to be determined if blacks were required to wear shorter bibs than the whites possible his master. the man on the right has his hand on possibly a gun to shoot the black man and then have the body fall into the river below. You are looking at the first snuff picture ever shot. Probably intended to frighten disobedient or unruly slaves by showing them what happens if they disobey their master. Happy Halloween. Boo! :) The bibs are significant back then the white man's bib was always longer as sing of power? Well some historian can confirm or deny it I guess if he sees this.

If you look closely you can see the white man on the right reaching for something on his right. The black man is being forced to kneel to both knees but may be resisting to put his knee down because he knows what will happen when his knee goes down, the white man will then turn shoot the black man in the back of the head and the body will fall in the river. So that's the urban spooky legend for this picture just in time for Hallow's Eve. The fact that the black man was slow in putting his knee down is what allowed enough time to take the picture.

not sure if it's been said or not yet, but there was another picture taken at some point with about the same pose and it was said the only reason the people were visible in the photo was because they were the only one's standing still for so long. It was said that one man was a shoe polisher and the other was having his shoes polished. Which would explain why one man is on his knee. Surely they would have to move some during this process which would explain the transparency of the figures.

I agree that this could be the same person captured two times. That makes the most sense as to why they are transparent when everything else looks so crisp and solid. To me it looks like the image on the right has one knee bent up at a slight angle, as if they were running. Then in the image on the left, I agree with many other posts that he is knelt down. So maybe it was someone running to get water or maybe it was a kid who was running and fell down. Or maybe I'm completely wrong (wouldn't be the first time.) Who knows? I just find it amazing that we are all looking at this image now, all these years later, with such great interest and curiosity.

Your all wrong and Moron's
1st it's 2 young black boys about 8-10 yrs old with uniform like clothes like school kids were made to wear more likely Sunday Church clothes. They are either staring at Fish or something in the Water, kids playing, maybe BEFORE Church, because kids were in school and worked 6 days a week. People didnt have a lot of clothes back then, sometimes one set of clothes and they usually bought semi-dressy. Especially on Sunday!!!It's a fluffy white shirt collar. One boy is on one knee and other arm resting on leg, the other boy standing is supporting body with arm on leg so he doesnt fall in. NO BUCKET GENIUSES!!!And they arent fishing. Nobody knew how to swim back then, and even today. For all you so-called expert photographers thinking it's one person, it would be one big blurrrr!!!Fools, go back to photography school and sniff some developer fluid!!!!
It's probably very early morning, thats why it's hazy and with shadows and nobody else around. The City is extremely quiet and the Boilers arent Steaming on the Boat. So Early Sunday Morning is best guess, and an actual time stamp day date would help prove it, but not necessary. According to the experts, that's one of the reasons that the photographers chose to take the picture on Sunday - you can imagine the blur it would cause to have a bursting metropolis full of people going about their daily routines." end quote.( ALL U DUMB EXPERTS) Also notice the shadow's and darkside of Houses and some have bright early Sunshine on them? Dah-yah. any other dumb comments? one person my arse

i believe that the two figures are possibly extratarestrials of some sort.as u can see both have no hair and have a very different pigment of color than a normal person would in a photo.