Daguerrotype Camera, c. 1830s
The daguerreotype process, or daguerreotypy, was the first publicly announced photographic process, and for nearly twenty years it was the one most commonly used. It was invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839. Daguerre (1787-1851) was a French artist and photographer. To make a daguerreotype, the daguerreotypist polished a sheet of silver-plated copper to a mirror finish; treated it with fumes that made its surface light-sensitive; exposed it in a camera for as long as was judged to be necessary, which could be as little as a few seconds for brightly sunlit subjects or much longer with less intense lighting; made the resulting latent image on it visible by fuming it with mercury vapor; removed its sensitivity to light by liquid chemical treatment; rinsed and dried it; then sealed the easily marred result behind glass in a protective enclosure.
Size: 2700px × 2152px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., 1830s, 19th, camera, century, daguerre, daguerreotype, daguerreotypy, daguerrotype, early, french, historic, historical, history, invention, louis, louis-jacques-mande, photography, process, science, technology
