The »Daguerreotype« was the first process of perma-
nently fixing the image of the camera perfected enough
to be made available to the public for general use. Be-
cause of that Louis-Jacques-Mandée Daguerre [1787-
1851] is often credited as the inventor of modern pho-
tography. This is not entirely true. For Daguerre rather
combined existing technologies and processes and
made them work.







Before turning to photography, Daguerre was a theater set painter renowned for the in-
credible hyper realism of his mammoth canvases. In fact, he made a successful career
of showcasing his paintings in popular spectacles called Dioramas. Daguerre's artistic
obsession for capturing the real world in all its minute detail led to a fascination with the
camera obscura and later, the work of Niepce. Forming a partnership with Niepce in 1829,
Daguerre set out to improve his methods and create a practical photographic process.

Read more about Daguerre and
his research
 






»Heliography« was the first process fixing the image of the »camera obscura« permanently.
It was developed by the Frenchman Nicephore Niepce during the 1820ies. He also coined the
term »heliography« [Greek for »sun writing«] for his invention. After his partnership with Da-
guerre further researches to improve the process were discarded in favor of experiments
which were to result in the »Daguerreotype«. Only two »heliographs« are still in existance -
see reproductions below.

Read more about the Daguerreotype
process
 






Daguerre's early Daguerreotypes - at the Annenberg School of
Communication, University of Southern California


Click on images below for enlarged views

          

  

The seven tinted Daguerreotypes above are in the Collection
of George Eastman House, Rochester, USA, which also holds
ca. 80.000 other photographs from all periods of the medium


MORE DAGUERREOTYPES
IN OTHER COLLECTIONS -
Click image below for linklist

 


THE PUBLIC IMPACT OF
DAGUERREOTYPES

The process of the Daguerreotype was bought by the French government
and handed over to the public for free use in 1839. The magic of the »mirror
images« caught the popular imagination as soon as it became known and
available. By 1853 there were 86 photographic studios in New York City
each churning out hundreds of portraits every sunny day. There were over
400,000 daguerreotype plates produced in Massachusetts alone in 1855.

Read more of the discussions
the Daguerreotype sparked in
the contemporary press
 





Click image below to view some of the photographic equipment used by Daguerre and other
photographers of the era at the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford University, UK.

 


The Daguerreotype - Essay by Edgar Allen Poe, first published in »Alexan-
der's Weekly Messenger«, Jan 15, 1840, p. 2

The Social Construction of the American Daguerreotype Portrait -
Contemporary essay by American photo-historian Ben Mattison

Ambiguous Representations : The Daguerreotype in Nathaniel Haw-
thorne's »The House of the Seven Gables« -
essay by Volker Hummel [1999]

Bibliography of the Daguerreotype - compiled by The Daguerreian Society

The Daguerreian Society - Homepage

The Digital Daguerreian Archive - collection of historical texts

Daguerreian Registry Home Page - compilation of biographical data of all
daguerreotypists in the United States

Memorial of the 150th anniversary in 2001 of Daguerre's death - in Bry-
sur-Marne, France, where Daguerre died in 1851

Daguerre - the Yahoo! Search Results, page 1

Daguerre - the Yahoo! Search Results, page 2




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