Daguerreotype

The daguerreotype is an early type of photograph, but, unlike modern photographs, it has no negative. Instead, it is an image exposed directly onto a mirror-polished surface of silver, (which has first been exposed to iodine vapour, or in the later use of the process, bromine vapour), housed in a velvet-lined folding case. While the daguerreotype was not the first photographic process to be developed, images of earlier processes required hours of exposure. The daguerreotype photographic process was one of the first to permanently record and affix an image with exposure time compatible with portrait photography, and became the first commercially used photographic process.

Related Topics:
Photograph - Mirror - Silver - Iodine - Bromine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The daguerreotype is named after its inventor, French artist and chemist Louis J.M. Daguerre, who announced its perfection (after years of experimentation) in 1839 (the French Academy of Sciences announced the process on January 9 of that year).

Related Topics:
French - Chemist - Louis J.M. Daguerre - 1839 - French Academy of Sciences - January 9

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Daguerre's French patent was acquired by the French Government. On August 19, 1839 the French Government announced the invention a gift "Free to the World." Nearly simultaneously in England Miles Berry, acting on Daguerre's behalf, had obtained a patent for the daguerreotype process on August 14, 1839.

Related Topics:
August 19 - 1839 - French Government - August 14

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The daguerreotype was a positive-only process allowing no reproduction of the picture. The pre-exposure preparation of the plate resulted in the formation of photo-sensitive silver halide; and exposure to light formed a latent image. The development of the visible image was then effected by placing the exposed plate over a slightly heated (about 75°C) cup of mercury. The vapour of mercury condensed on those places where the light had acted in an almost exact ratio to the intensity of its action. This produced a picture in an amalgam, the vapour of which attached itself to the altered silver iodide. Proof that such was the case was subsequently afforded by the fact that the mercurial image could be removed by heat. The developing box was so constructed that it was possible to examine the picture through a yellow glass window whilst the image was being brought out. The next operation was to fix the picture by dipping it in a solution of hyposulphite of soda. The image produced by this method is so delicate that it will not bear the slightest handling, and has to be protected from being accidentally touched. Additional experimentation found that treating the plate with heated gold chloride would tone and strengthen the image, though it was still quite delicate and required a well sealed case to protect against touch as well as oxidation of the finely polished silver, which formed the blacks in the image.

Related Topics:
Silver halide - Latent image - Mercury - Amalgam - Gold chloride

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Daguerreotypy spread rapidly, except in England, where Richard Beard, that had bought the English patent to Miles Berry in 1841, intended lawsuit to other photographers.

Related Topics:
Richard Beard - 1841

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the early 1840s the invention was quickly introduced (within a matter of months) to artists in the United States by Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph code. An exuberant market in portraits, often the work of itinerant artists who moved from town to town, sprang up. The first vintage erotica used daguerreotypes, as did the first experimenters in stereo photography.

Related Topics:
1840s - Samuel Morse - Telegraph - Portrait - Vintage erotica

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

People often believe that the daguerreotype was the most commonly used method of photography into the late part of the 19th century. Actually this process was used for only about 10 years, before it was overtaken by other processes:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• the Ambrotype introduced in 1854, a positive image on glass, with a black backing
• the Tintype or Ferrotype, an image on asphaltum coated iron plates
• the albumen print, a paper photograph produced from large glass negatives most commonly used in American Civil War photography.

The rapid move away from daguerreotype photography was inevitable; the process is intricate and complex, labor intensive, and involves many stages of production. This made daguerreotypes expensive and not affordable to the average person. Also, the typical exposure was often 60 to 90 seconds long, requiring the sitter(s) to remain immobile and hold a pose for all that time. Finally — and perhaps most important — since there is no negative, it had no intermediate stage from which a final image could later be reproduced.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Unlike film and paper photography, a daguerreotype can last virtually forever, when properly sealed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today these antique items are avidly collected. Some daguerreotypes - such as those by Southworth & Hawes of Boston, or George S. Cook of Charleston, South Carolina - are considered masterpieces of the art of photography.

Related Topics:
Southworth & Hawes - Boston - George S. Cook - Charleston - South Carolina

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some parts of this text are derived from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 
Daguerreotype: See also ►