Daguerreotype: A Blend of Art and Technology

Daguerreotype: A Blend of Art and Technology

The first successful photographic process was the daguerreotype. Invented by French inventor Louis-Jacques-Mande Dagurre, the photos were produced directly on a silvered polished surface of copper. Exposure to fumes of iodine made the copper plates sensitive to light. Exposure to bromine increased to its light sensitivity which was important to permit short exposure time in a camera.

When the photographer lifted a lens cap and slide to expose a silvered copper plate to a focused image. Exposure could take anywhere from seconds to minutes. After exposure, the slide that occluded light was replaced and the lens was recapped. The plate holder was taken to a darkroom and placed face down in a vessel where it was exposed to hot mercury. The image on the copper plate developed in a few minutes.

The copper plate was fixed in hyposulphite of soda and then gilded with gold chloride. The copper plate was then sealed behind glass under a spacer or mat so that it would not touch the glass directly. Artisans crafted daguerreotypes into fashionable jewelry using a variety of materials including precious metals. The daguerreotype was then ready for distribution.

The process to form daguerreotypes was introduced to the United States in 1839. Since the process was not patented in the United States, it became widely used. By the 1850s, about three million daguerreotypes were produced every year. The daguerreotype was affordable and produced images that were of high quality. By the middle of the 1850s, there were many commercial establishments that offered daguerreotypes.

The large New York firm of E. and H. T. Anthony was one of the first to develop a production-line assembly for producing daguerreotype equipment. Their innovative assembly-line process predated by many years Henry Ford's touted mass aseembly-line for cars.

Inventor of the telegraph, Samuel F. B. Morse, described the daguerreotype as "one of the most perfect discoveries of the age." These precious images on silvered copper plates encased in protective cases are a glimpse into a previous era that combined art and technology.

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