What is a Daguerreotype?

In 1839 the Academy of Science in Paris, France made an announcement that would change the way we look at the world and ourselves forever. An artist named Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre and a amateur french scientist had developed a process by which a permanent image could be printed on a silver plated sheet of copper and the process could be duplicated and used commercially. France decided to give this gift to the world and thus the first Daguerreotype was born.

Although daguerreotype's in truth were not the first photo ever taken because of the development of the commercial process Mr. Daguerre is usually credited with developing the worlds first photograph's. The first actual image of a view from a window was made in 1826 by a fellow countryman named Joseph Niepce but Mr. Niepce died in 1833 before his project could be fully completed.

Unlike Niepce's process which used pewter and resin, Daguerre's process used silver plated copper sheets with iodine to make them light sensitive and by
exposing them in a camera using warm mercury vapors and setting the image with distilled water created wonderful life like images he called daguerreotypes.

Holding a daguerreotype in your hand is like holding a window to the past. They look like a mirror and the images jump out at you and look very 3 dimensional.
Veins and scares are not hidden nor is the beauty of society of the mid 1800's. Daguerreotypes where developed in natural light in artist studio's. The subject
had to hold perfectly still for up to 45 minutes at first and as the process was further developed to several seconds. Children where restrained with harnesses
and metal neck braces which must terrorized them. The image itself is like chalk on a chalk board and therefore has to be protected under glass and sealed with
tape to keep out the elements. Yet these early daguerreotype photographers managed to not only record history but also to create art on miniature canvas's made of copper which have been left behind for us to learn from and admire. I never tire of looking at these wonderful images and I hope you will enjoy looking at The Mirror Image Gallery.