Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787 – 1851) was a French artist, theatre designer and chemist; however, he is most know for his invention of the "daguerrotype", the first commercially successful process in photography. In the mid 1820's,Joseph Nicéphore Niépce produced the world's first permanent photography, know as the Heliograph, using a camera obscura. Three years later, in 1829, Daguerre partnered with Niepce, hoping to the process even quicker; the partnership was short lived because Niepce died in 1833.
[L'Atelier de l'artiste]
After many experiments, Daguerre successfully designed a direct-positive process which creates a detailed image on a silver-plated copper sheet, known as Sheffield plates, without the use of a negative. This coated sheet was polished like a mirror and then sensitized in a covered box, over silver iodine until it took on a yellow-rose color. The light sensitive material was made by fuming the plate with the iodine vapor. After the iodine was added, the plate was inserted into the camera, held in a lightproof holder. After the exposure to light, the plate is removed and developed using hot mercury until the image appears. It was then immersed in sodium thiosulphate and toned with gold chloride. In 1837, Daguerre completed the full process the first daguerrotype (as seen above) with the correct exposure, development and fixation.
[Daguerreotype with "Chavalier" Lens]
The early daguerreotypes used "chevalier" lenses, which were slow, and the iodine process caused the exposure time to be useless for moving objects and portraits. Later, "Petzval" lenses with larger diaphragm were introduced. Plates for this lens were sensitized with both iodine and bromine forming the light sensitive crystals of silver bromide and silver iodide, lowering the exposures and allowing portraits to be taken. The required equipment needed to take a daguerreotype photography is about 110lbs (50kg).
[Daguerreotype Portrait of Abe Lincoln in 1846]
On January 9, 1839, the French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype process, which along with the announcement of William Fox Talbot's "calotype" process, 1839 was marked as the year photography was invented.
A patent was acquired by the French Government, and August 19,1839, the French Government called Daguerre's invention a gift "Free to the World". In 1851, Fox Talbot's "wet collodion" process, which allowed a limitless number of quality prints to be made, was introduced. These advances soon took over for the Daguerreotype process; later that year on July 10, 1851, Daguerre died of a heart attack.
-HCM-
Week 1
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