The Earliest Known Photograph of Mount Everest, 1870 Photo
An extraordinarily rare 1870 photograph, probably the oldest known photo of Mount Everest. The 1870 image was taken during one of Sache’s Himalayan expeditions, a time when photographing distant mountain ranges was both difficult and rare. Unlike today’s crystal-clear telephoto images, the mountain shown in this photo is only faintly visible. It includes a sweeping landscape view, and a close-up (from the same scene) reveals what is likely the outline of Mount Everest, long before the age of advanced lenses and high-altitude expeditions.
The image was taken by John Edward Sache, a 19th-century photographer who worked extensively across colonial India. Although not as widely celebrated as contemporaries like Samuel Bourne or Felice Beato, Sache played a significant role in documenting landscapes, architecture, and daily life during the 19th century. His work is today regarded as historically invaluable.
Sache arrived in the Indian subcontinent in 1864, entering a rapidly growing field of professional photography. British India had a rising demand for photographs, both for administrative use and for public curiosity back in Europe. Sache was a technically skilled and widely travelled photographer.
Over the course of his career, he established multiple studios in India, moving between cities as opportunities grew. His portfolio expanded to include portraits, architectural photography, and particularly landscapes, one of which appears to be this incredibly early photograph of Mount Everest. Click image to enlarge.
Did you know – in 1870, very few people had ever seen Mount Everest. It had only been later identified as the world’s highest peak through the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. Mount Everest was first successfully climbed in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
