Daguerreotype

The daguerreotype was the first way people could make pictures that looked very real. It was invented by Louis Daguerre and became popular in the 1830s and 1840s. These special pictures were made using a special kind of camera and silver plates that could catch light.

To create a daguerreotype, a person had to polish a piece of silver-plated copper until it shone like a mirror. Then they would put it in a camera and let it catch the light from the world around it. After that, they would use special smoke to bring out the hidden picture on the metal.

Daguerreotypes were very delicate, and even a light touch could scratch them. The pictures could look different depending on how you saw them, sometimes looking like a normal photo and other times like a mirror image. Though they were replaced by easier methods soon after, some artists today still enjoy using this old way to make beautiful pictures.

History

Since the Renaissance era, artists and inventors searched for a way to capture scenes mechanically. They used tools like the camera obscura to help them draw by tracing what they saw or using the image to solve problems with perspective and colors. A camera obscura takes a three-dimensional scene and makes it flat in two dimensions.

In the early 1600s, an Italian doctor named Angelo Sala discovered that silver nitrate turned black in the sun, but he didn’t find a practical use for it. Later, the discovery of halogens like iodine, bromine, and chlorine made silver-based photography possible. The daguerreotype was one of these processes, but it wasn’t the first. Others, like Joseph Niépce, had also experimented with photography before Louis Daguerre.

In 1829, Daguerre met Niépce in France. Niépce had already made images using a process called heliography. They worked together, with Niépce sharing details of his process in secret code. After Niépce’s death, his son Isidore continued working with Daguerre. Together, they developed a faster process called the daguerreotype, which used special plates and mercury fumes to create images. This new process was much quicker than Niépce’s earlier method.

Daguerre introduced the daguerreotype to the world in 1839. It became very popular but was later replaced by cheaper and easier methods around 1856.

First mention in print (1835) and public announcement (1839)

In 1835, there was a rumor in Paris that Louis Daguerre was trying to create a way to capture images from a camera using metal plates. People were very excited about this idea.

In 1839, Daguerre shared his new way of making photographs with the world. This process, called the daguerreotype, created clear and lasting pictures. It became very popular because it was better than earlier methods that took too long or didn’t work well.

Camera obscura

Main article: Camera obscura

The camera obscura is a simple idea that helps us see images. It works like a tiny dark room. Imagine standing under a tree on a bright, sunny day. The gaps between the leaves act like tiny holes. These holes let sunlight through and create a round image of the sun on the ground below.

A long time ago, in 1502, a famous artist named Leonardo da Vinci wrote about this idea. He said that if you make a small hole in a wall, sunlight will pass through it and create upside-down images of everything outside on the wall inside the room.

Later, people added lenses to make the images brighter and clearer. By the late 1700s, some people carried small box-like cameras to help draw outside scenes. These cameras projected images onto a glass surface, and artists could trace the outlines by hand. This inspired others to find ways to capture these images permanently using special chemicals.

Daguerre, an artist who created big, realistic paintings and shows called panoramas, used the camera obscura to help him get the right sizes and angles in his artwork.

Process

The daguerreotype was an early way to make photographs. It worked like some modern photography, using chemicals to create an image. First, silver was placed on a metal surface. This silver was then treated with special fumes to prepare it for capturing light.

When ready, the prepared silver plate was placed in a camera. Light from the scene would touch the plate, creating an invisible image. After this, the plate was treated with mercury fumes to make the image visible. Finally, the image was fixed using a chemical to make sure it stayed and didn’t change.

Because of the dangerous chemicals used, like mercury, this process is not used much today. Some modern photographers try a different method that uses sunlight instead of mercury, but it is rare.

Casing and other display options

To protect the delicate surface of a daguerreotype, a piece of glass was placed over the image and sealed with special paper. In the US and UK, a decorative brass border was often used between the image and the glass, while in Europe, a thin cardboard border was common.

Daguerreotypes were often kept in small wooden cases, especially in the US and Britain, which could be carried easily. In France and other parts of Europe, they were frequently hung on walls in frames. These images could also be placed in jewelry or other small decorative items, such as watch cases or brooches, for special keepsakes.

Historians can learn about the origin of a daguerreotype by looking at the type of frame, any paper used, and special marks on the metal surface.

Unusual characteristics

Daguerreotypes often appear as mirror images because we see them from the side that faced the camera. One way to tell if a daguerreotype has been flipped is by looking at the buttons on men’s clothes, which usually button left over right, unlike women’s clothes.

Viewing a daguerreotype feels different from looking at other photos. The image seems to float in space once your eyes focus just right. This special effect is lost when the image is copied using other methods. Some modern things, like holograms on credit cards, give a similar feeling.

Even though each daguerreotype is unique, it can be copied by taking another daguerreotype of the original, or by using methods like lithography or engraving. Today, we can also scan them digitally.

A clear, large daguerreotype can show very fine details, sometimes better than cameras from the 2000s.

Reduction of exposure time

In the early 1840s, two important changes made taking pictures much faster. First, a new lens made the picture in the camera much brighter. Before this, the first cameras needed very long times to take a picture, so they could only capture still things like buildings or statues. With the new lens, pictures could be taken much quicker, which made it possible to take portraits — pictures of people.

The second change was in the chemicals used. By adding bromine or chlorine to the original iodine, the plate became much more sensitive to light. This meant that pictures could be taken in just fifteen to thirty seconds in good lighting, instead of several minutes. These improvements helped make photography more practical and popular.

Unusual daguerreotype cameras

Many creative camera designs were made for taking daguerreotype pictures. One of these was a tiny metal camera made by Carl August von Steinheil in 1839. It was very small—just one-twentieth the size of other cameras—and people used a special viewer to see the pictures it made.

Another unique camera was made by Alexander S. Wolcott. Instead of using a regular lens, it used a curved mirror to collect light, making the picture brighter but not very clear. This camera was made just for taking portraits.

Friedrich Voigtländer also made a small, portable metal camera in 1841. It had special lenses and could take round plates. Only 600 of these cameras were ever made. The instructions for using it said people should sit outside for their picture, with exposure times ranging from 40 seconds in direct sunlight to 3½ minutes on a cloudy winter day.

In 1845, Friedrich von Martens invented a camera that could take wide, curved pictures covering 150 degrees, called the “Megaskop-Kamera” or “Panorama-Kamera”. Another creative setup by Netto in 1841 placed part of the camera inside a darkroom wall, making it easy to develop the plates right after taking the picture.

Portraiture

Taking pictures with daguerreotypes was very hard, especially for people sitting for portraits. Because the early cameras needed long exposure times, people had to sit very still for minutes. Sometimes, they even had to look directly into the sun, which could hurt their eyes. To keep people still, special supports like head rests were used.

Studios for these portraits were often built on rooftops to use natural daylight. This helped control the lighting better. People sitting for portraits usually had stiff poses because they needed to stay very still. However, some photographers managed to capture more lively and expressive images. For young children, their mothers might hide behind the camera to help keep them calm and still.

Proliferation

André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, Jules Itier, and Johann Baptist Isenring became well-known experts in taking daguerreotypes. In Britain, Richard Beard bought the patent for the daguerreotype and sold licenses to others.

The daguerreotype became popular in the United States after it was first mentioned in newspapers in February 1839. Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph, helped introduce it to America. He wrote about it in a letter that was published, sparking interest. By 1853, about three million daguerreotypes were made each year in the U.S. Many people, including famous and ordinary folks, wanted portraits because they could afford them.

The daguerreotype spread worldwide. The first one in Australia was taken in 1841. In Jamaica, a booklet of views was created in 1844. In 1857, the first known photograph in Japan was made. In the early 1850s, Augustus Washington traveled to Liberia to take portraits of leaders.

Astronomical applications in the 19th century

In 1839, François Arago talked about many ways the daguerreotype could be used, including in astronomy. People still used it for taking pictures of the stars in the 1870s.

The first picture ever taken of a solar eclipse was captured on July 28, 1851, by Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski. He used the daguerreotype process to do this.

Even though another method called the collodion wet plate process was cheaper and easier for taking portraits, it wasn’t as good for certain astronomy work. When scientists wanted to watch the transit of Venus, they needed very accurate pictures. The daguerreotype worked better because it didn’t need to be kept wet, so the pictures stayed clear and steady.

Late and modern use

Though many thought the daguerreotype stopped being used in the early 1860s, a few people kept using it quietly over the next 150 years. Some photographers loved the old way and kept making these special pictures, even when newer, easier methods became popular.

In the late 20th century, the daguerreotype became popular again with a small group of artists. Today, fewer than 100 people worldwide still practice this old method. Artists like Jerry Spagnoli, Adam Fuss, and Chuck Close have helped bring this technique back into the art world. Modern tools, like electronic flash, have made it easier to use.

Exhibitions of contemporary daguerreotypes have been held around the world, such as one in Bry Sur Marne, France, in 2009, and another in New York City in 2013. The Astolat Dollhouse Castle also features these unique photographs. People are drawn to the special way light creates a shiny, almost magical image on the silver plate, as well as the skill and care needed to make each picture.

Gallery of sample daguerreotypes

Here are some interesting pictures made using the daguerreotype process:

• Andrew Jackson at age 78
• Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, aged 74 or 75, made by Antoine Claudet in 1844
• Shimazu Nariakira, made by Ichiki Shirō in 1857, the earliest surviving Japanese photograph
• Mary Brice, a woman enslaved at the Point of Honor plantation around 1853
• The solar eclipse of July 28, 1851, the first correctly exposed photograph of a solar eclipse using the daguerreotype process
• Philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, made by Hermann Biow in February 1848
• José de San Martín, made in Paris 1848
• John Adams, a shoemaker at age 100, born in 1745, possibly the earliest-born person photographed
• Frédéric Chopin, around 1849
• Blacksmith Forging a Horseshoe, around 1859–1860 by Summer A. Smith
• Six daguerreotypes show a panorama of San Francisco, California, in 1853