Daguerreotype

1839–1860

The first practical photograph — a mirror that remembers. Silver-plated copper yielding ghostly, shimmering images.

Silver-plated copper sheet sensitized with iodine vapor. Mercury development. Each image unique — no negatives.

1 artist6 colors

Daguerreotype Process

French

Invented by Daguerre in 1839. Each plate is a unique mirror-image on polished silver.

Exposure times of minutes required subjects to hold still. The silver surface acts as both image and mirror — viewing angle changes the image.

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Pigments: Silver

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