What is the daguerreotype process in photography?

Introduced worldwide in 1839 by Louis Daguerre, the daguerreotype was the first publicly available and commercially viable photographic process. The technique involved exposing a polished silver-plated copper sheet in a camera, developing the latent image with mercury vapor, and sealing the delicate plate behind glass. Although widely used through the 1850s, the process was largely superseded by less expensive and more easily viewable alternatives.

What we know

• The daguerreotype was the first publicly available photographic process, invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839. [2, 3]
• To create the image, a daguerreotypist polished a silver-plated copper sheet to a mirror finish, treated it with light-sensitive fumes, exposed it in a camera, and fumed it with mercury vapor to make the latent image visible. [2]
• The final daguerreotype image is very delicate, easily marred by wiping, and appears positive or negative depending on the viewing angle and lighting. [2]
• The daguerreotype was almost completely superseded by 1856 with newer, less expensive processes like the ambrotype that yielded more readily viewable images. [2]

Where to go next

• whoWho was Louis Daguerre?
• compared withHow did the ambrotype replace the daguerreotype?
• the bigger pictureWhat was the history of the camera obscura?
• how we knowHow did Henry Fox Talbot's calotype differ?
• what followedHow do modern artists revive early photography?
• an unexpected connectionHow did early photographic experiments begin with cut-out letters on bottles?Long before cameras captured permanent photographs, researchers like Johann Heinrich Schulze used light-sensitive slurries to record temporary shadows of letters on bottles.

Sources

• [1]daguerreotype process (Wikidata Q179744) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Daguerreotype · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]History of photography · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]History of the camera · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Nude photography · CC BY-SA 4.0