# Daguerreotypes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2000, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daguerreotypes/25938 "2000-07-18T03:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrothaTJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@BrothaTJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrothaTJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daguerreotypes/25938/1 "2000-07-18T03:25:06Z")
Does anyone know how these things were made? And in what time period they were prevalent? Did their production process contribute to modern film processing in any way? I’ve always been fascinated by daguerreotypes; some of them look almost as good as photographs. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daguerreotypes/25938/2 "2000-07-18T03:31:02Z")
Well, I found this in 5 seconds with a simple search engine. You could probably do it too. The Daguerreian Society [http://www.austinc.edu/dag](http://www.austinc.edu/dag) Daguerreotype photography and an explanation of the original photographic process with illustrations is featured at this site. Patterson Daguerreotypes [http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/speccoll/dag.html](http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/speccoll/dag.html) Read a history of the images made by the early photographic process, and details on the exhibit. Includes the first ever photo of Niagara Falls. American Memory Collection - Daguerreotypes [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/daghtml/daghome.html](http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/daghtml/daghome.html) Explore the 19th century photographs in the Library of Congress collection. Find portraits and architectural, occupational and social scenes. Harvard Daguerreotypes [http://preserve.harvard.edu/new/daguerreotype/intro1.html](http://preserve.harvard.edu/new/daguerreotype/intro1.html) Tour the university’s exhibit of photographs created by the 19th Century process for a smattering of samples from its 3500 image archive. Daguerreotype Portraits and Views [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/daghtml/daghome.html](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/daghtml/daghome.html) Browse or search for photos from the Library of Congress’s archive of over 650 photographs dating from 1839-64. With details on preservation. Handbook of the Daguerreotype ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/etext/gutenberg/etext94/amdag10.txt Enjoy this classic 1849 guide to producing images with the first photographic technique put to widespread use. Sentaro Daguerreotype [http://www.old-japan.co.uk/sentaro.article.html](http://www.old-japan.co.uk/sentaro.article.html) Essay discusses the ramifications of the discovery of a photograph of a Japanese man dating from the 1850s. View the photo and read its history. Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Division [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/phcoll.new.html](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/phcoll.new.html) The Library of Congress has begun compiling its archives and putting them online. The Print and Photographs Division includes a collection of Daguerreotypes, and historic images from the Civil War and Farm Security Administration. The Daguerreian Society [http://abell.austinc.edu/dag/home.html](http://abell.austinc.edu/dag/home.html) The society’s home page contains a gallery of old photographs, articles on daguerreotype history and information on this year’s symposium. Daguerrean Broadside [http://www.geocities.com/~daguerreotype/](http://www.geocities.com/~daguerreotype/) View hundreds of 19th Century daguerreotypes organized into multiple galleries, including images from the author’s own collection. American Treasures - American Colonization Society [http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr033.html](http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr033.html) Library of Congress project offers a look at paintings and daguerreotypes of people important to this 19th century effort. American Museum of Photography [http://www.photographymuseum.com/](http://www.photographymuseum.com/) See great images from the history of photography, from daguerreotypes to modernism. Learn about early processes and preserving photos. Daguerreian Society > **[About Us - The Daguerreian Society](https://www.daguerreiansociety.org/)** > > As the premier historic photographic collecting organization, the Daguerreian Society brings together a community united by a common interest in and passion for all types of early photography. Explore a gallery of daguerreotype photos, read a history of the medium and a description of its processes, and get society news. Brief History of Photography [http://www.spress.de/foto/history/](http://www.spress.de/foto/history/) Get a quick overview of the major developments in photography from the daguerreotype to digital imaging. Daguerre, Louis Jacques Mande - MSN Encarta [http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=04BFC000](http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=04BFC000) Find a biographical sketch of the French painter. Click on multimedia to view a daguerreotype of the artist. ---
**Author:** ![BrothaTJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@BrothaTJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrothaTJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daguerreotypes/25938/3 "2000-07-18T03:33:15Z")
Holy crap that was a lot of sites. See the thing is I’m lazy as hell and I was looking for a summarized answer from some of the mighty minds that congregate on this board. So if any of you would be so kind as to oblige me… ---
**Author:** ![Quadzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/a4c791/32.png) [@Quadzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quadzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daguerreotypes/25938/4 "2000-07-18T03:34:18Z")
_hauling out the Art History 11 book with glee_ You asked for it, Brotha. The idea daguerrotypes was conceived in the late 1830s by Louis Daguerre. Their invention certainly led to modern developing technology, seeing as how the images were developed using silver-coated copper plates. However - daguerrotypes were one-time imaging flings. No reproductions, no negatives; the plate was it. Modern photography took that as a springboard, though; as the daguerrotype was perfected, an English guy by the name of Talbot came up with “negative” film. By 1858, photography in something close to what we know today had been _ahem_ “developed.” ---
**Author:** ![Quadzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/a4c791/32.png) [@Quadzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quadzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daguerreotypes/25938/5 "2000-07-18T03:36:29Z")
But tcburnett has a point. I’m guilty of asking before I search, but it’s kind of a good idea to take a couple seconds at a search engine so that people don’t jump on your throat when you post a simple question. ---
**Author:** ![BrothaTJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@BrothaTJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrothaTJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daguerreotypes/25938/6 "2000-07-18T03:37:46Z")
Point taken, and thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daguerreotypes/25938/7 "2000-07-18T03:37:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BrothaTJ \* > \*\*See the thing is I’m lazy as hell \*\* See, the thing is, that’s why I didn’t answer you. I don’t mind pointing you in the right direction, but laziness isn’t a good excuse for asking someone else to look it up and tell you the answer. ---
**Author:** ![BrothaTJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@BrothaTJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrothaTJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daguerreotypes/25938/8 "2000-07-18T03:40:37Z")
Well we’ve all obviously got free time on our hands, what’s the harm in helping out your fellow man? I dunno, I’m a rookie here, I’m gonna shut up now. I’ll put those sites to use though tc, gracias.