Modern Photography Invented
Nicéphore Niépce
and Louis-Jacques-Mandé
Daguerre worked together to try and speed up the process of photography that
began over a hundred years earlier, but took hours to get a single image. The men were working from the discovery of Johann
Schultz in the early 1700s that silver and halide ions would become dark when
exposed to light. When these salts were
exposed to focused light an image would appear. This image would become fixed if heated in the
presence of mercury and then dipping it into a solution of sodium thiosulfate. The
image was very delicate, but would stand up very well if sealed behind glass to
prevent it from being touched. Later
technology allowed the images to be sealed in glass cases that would be vacuum sealed
to prevent any exposure to oxygen. Despite
being dangerous to develop, due to the toxic chemicals involved in all stages
of the process, the Daguerreotype image system spread through the
The Daguerreotype camera (left) will remind many people
of the cameras from films set in the old west. This picture of Edgar Allan Poe (right) is one
of the most famous Daguerreotypes ever printed. Until recently, these images were not able to
be copied due to the complex chemical process involved in their production.
For a complete assembly of the tools and equipment used
to make a Daguerreotype, click here to be
redirected to the official Daguerre site