Photography History
The Early Masters of Photography: Louis Daguerre
French physicist and artist Louis Daguerre is recognised as one of the MOST important inventors of photography.
The Early Masters of Photography
In this series of articles, I will share the most important names in the history of photography with you. I’ll be writing about their inventions, discoveries & ideas. As a photographer, I find this very important since these are the people who shaped photography into what it is today. I strongly believe these are people you should know a thing or two about before diving into the technical side of photography. I’ll be trying to make these articles as comprehensive as possible for you. Happy reading & learn lots! 📷
Who Was Daguerre?
Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre (Born November 19th 1787, Cormeilles-en-Parisis), better known as Louis Daguerre, is the inventor of the very first practical process of photography, known as the Daguerreotype.
In 1829, Daguerre and Niépce formed a partnership when they learned about each other’s efforts in de same field. Daguerre was interested in Niépce’s heliographic process, and Niépce needed Daguerre’s camera obscura. They both wanted to work on the same problem; making a permanent picture using both light and chemistry. However, after Niépce’s sudden death in 1833, the faith of finding a reliable process was in Daguerre’s hands from that point on.
Even though the first permanent photograph made in 1826 was made by Niépce, the quality of the photographs, as well as the photographic process, remained poor and the exposure time was insanely long. Eventually, Daguerre ended up developing a new process, which required only 20 to 30 minutes, which was considered extremely fast in that time.
The Development of The Daguerreotype
“I have seized the light, I have arrested its flight!” — Louis Daguerre
After years of experimentation, Daguerre secured an iodised silver-plated sheet of copper to create a detailed image. He found out that it can be developed and made visible by exposing it to mercury vapour, which settles on the exposed sections of the image. Initially, this process, also required a very long exposure time to produce a clear image. Exposure times were instantly reduced from eight hours to “only” 20–30 minutes. The results were not permanent, But, when the developed image was exposed to light, the unexposed areas of the silver darkened until the image was no longer visible. By 1837, Daguerre was finally able to fix the image permanently by using a solution of salt to dissolve the unexposed silver iodide.
What made a daguerreotype so unique is that there was no negative used within the process, which made each Daguerreotype one-of-a-kind, highly polished and unique.
How The Process Took Over The World
In 1838, Daguerre presented his process — the Daguerreotype — to all small group of artists and scientists. By doing so, he hoped to get investments to further pursue his project. A famous French astronomist named François Arago saw a lot of potential in his project and decided to support him financially. On August 19th 1839, the entire process Daguerre went through was explained to the Académie des Sciences en de Académie des Beaux-Arts, after which he gained a ton of popularity; the process of the Daguerreotype quickly spread throughout the world and marked a milestone in photographic history.
Daguerreotypes offered something that no other painting technique had been able to fully capture before; clarity and hyperrealism. By 1850, millions and millions of Daguerreotypes were made to document every aspect of life and death. As time went on, photography was becoming more ordinary every day.
