self-portrait; believed to be the earliest extant American portrait photograph. by Robert Cornelius 1809-1893, photographer Published: 1839. Daguerre announced his invention of a photographic method to the French Academy of Sciences in August 1839. That October, a young Philadelphian, Robert Cornelius, working out of doors to take advantage of the light, made this head-and-shoulders self-portrait using a box fitted with a lens from an opera glass. In the portrait, Cornelius stands slightly off-c