History of photography: Daguerre pictures
DAGUERRE Louis Jacques Mande (November 18, 1787, Cormeilles, France — July 10, 1851, Bry-sur-Marne) is a French artist and inventor, one of the creators of photography.
He developed (with the help of Niepce experiments) the first practice relevant photography method - daguerrotypy (1839).
Daguerre was a customs official and later a scene-painter in opera. In 1822 he opened a diorama in Paris - a huge building with huge
paintings in it. In the process of the creation and perfection of these paintings he was probably prompted to starting experiments in photography. He knew the camera obscura and used it to make sketches from nature
for creating an illusion of reality in his diorama.
Daguerre did not invent photography (Niepce did that before him), but he made it really working and popular. In 1829 he negotiated a developmental contract with Niepce to develop the method
of heliography. After 1829 and till his death in 1833 Niepce and his son Isidor, who became Daguerre's partner upon father's death, did not manage to develop their invention. But Daguerre,
who worked independently, moved forward. His idea was to obtain an image on a bright surface of a silver plate sodden with iodide vapors, which made it photosensitive.
He put the plate into a camera obscura, exposed, and developed with mercury vapors.
He achieved results in 1837, after 11 years of experiments. He fixed the image developed with the mercury vapors by bathing it in a strong solution of salt and hot water.
After 1839 he changed salt in the fixation process to natrium sulfate — locating fixture discovered by John Herschel.
As a result the silver iodide particles that had not been influenced by light washed away. Exposure time for in camera obscura was between 15 and 30 minutes
(whereas Niepce heliography required up to 8 hours).
The whole process gave out a single photo - a positive, named a daguerreotype by the author. It was impossible to produce several such plates. The image on a plate
was mirror-like and you could have a good look at it only in certain light. But Daguerre, in obtaining daguerreotype images, "drawn by light", managed to do
without not only the artist's work but also the one of an engraver. It was this feature that made the process accessible and practical. Daguerre strolled about the streets of Paris
with a heavy camera and bulky equipment, made his daguerreotypes in boulevards, arousing interest in people, but did not explain the essence of his method.
To get profit out of his discovery Daguerre tried to create a corporation by public subscription first. After the failure of this he made an attempt
to sell the invention for a quarter of a million franks. But none of money-makers bought it. Then Daguerre decided to evoke the interest of the scientists and reported his invention
to a well known and influential astronomer and physicist D.F. Arago. January 7, 1839 Arago reported the works of Daguerre to the French Academy and offered the French
government to by the patent. The announcement of the daguerrotypy made a sensation. Scientific journals printed Arago's report. Daguerre became widely known exactly because of
this invention, the diorama was popular too (Balzac characters mention it as a sensation no once), but it had burned to ashes just a few months before.
Daguerre showed daguerreotypes of Paris views to writers, painters and newspaper editors, who made his invention popular, and he asked 200 thousand franks for it.
At the same time he told Isidore Niepce that with the deal being successful he would devide the sum between them. But he did not manage to sell the invention. Then Arago
convinced Daguerre that a pension from the French government would be an honor and a national reward to him. Daguerre was granted 6 thousand franks a year for his lifetime
and Isidore Niepce - 4 thousand franks. Daguerre became also a knight of Ordre national de la Legion d'honneur. In the same year of 1839 he received a patent in England.
Daguerre concentrated on popularization of the daguerreotype process: he arranged demonstrations for artists and scientists. Together with his relative A.Giroud
he began to produce daguerreotype cameras for sail. Half of the profit went to Giroud, the other half Daguerre divided between himself and Isidor Niepce.
In the same 1839 Giroud published Daguerre's instruction on how to use his camera and all the cameras and instructions were sold out in a few days.
This instruction was republished for 30 times in France. Within a year it was translated into many languages and reprinted in the capitals of Europe and the USA.
Soon scientists, artists and amateurs developed Daguerre's process. They reduced exposure time to several minutes. The use of a prism made it possible
to obtain a normal, not mirror-like daguerreotype image. Daguerreotypes reproduced the finest detail of the taken objects. By 1841 a smaller camera was created,
and its weight was 10 times reduced. There were created some means to preserve the daguerreotype surface from damage and scratches as well.
Daguerre's fame and recognition grew as his method of obtaining images spread around the world. But after he published the facts about his process Daguerre did not bring
anything new into photography. He lived a secluded life not far from Paris until his death in 1851.
| 
