Louis Daguerre

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (November 18, 1787 – July 10, 1851) was the French artist and chemist who is recognized for his invention of the Daguerreotype process of photography. Download high resolution version (956x1152, 304 KB)In the public domain by age. ... Download high resolution version (956x1152, 304 KB)In the public domain by age. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (884x1536, 125 KB) de: Der französische Maler Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre (* 18. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (884x1536, 125 KB) de: Der französische Maler Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre (* 18. ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar with 43 days remaining. ... 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... 1851 (MDCCCLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... L’Atelier de lartiste. ... Photography is the process of making pictures by means of the action of light. ...

He was born in Cormeilles-en-Parisis. He experimented on making pictures from 1824, showing dioramas around France, England and Scotland. A few years after Nicéphore Niépce produced the world's first photograph, the two men started a four-year cooperation until Niépce's sudden death in 1833. The main reason for the "partnership", as far as Daguerre was concerned, was connected to his already famous Dioramas. The Diorama was a cleverly lit scenario that by manipulation of lights in darkness came alive. The Diorama was a great success but Daguerre was not a gifted artist and the production of the scenes took time. Daguerre thought that the process developed by Niepce could help speed up the Diorama creation. Niepce was a printer and his process was based on a faster way to produce printing plates. Cormeilles-en-Parisis is a commune of the Val-dOise département, in France. ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A diorama is a partially three dimensional model of a landscape typically showing historical events, nature scenes, cityscapes, etc. ... Nicéphore Niépces earliest surviving photograph, circa 1826 Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (March 7, 1765 – July 5, 1833) was a French inventor, most noted as a pioneer in photography. ...

Daguerre announced the latest perfection of the Daguerreotype, after years of experimentation, in 1839, with the French Academy of Sciences announcing the process on January 9 of that year. Daguerre's patent was acquired by the French Government, and, on August 19, 1839, the French Government announced the invention was a gift "Free to the World." However, Daguerre himself deposed the patent for England on August 12, and this greatly slowed the development of photography in Great Britain. Antoine Claudet was one of the few people legally able to take daguerreotypes there. L’Atelier de lartiste. ... 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The French Academy of Sciences (Académie des sciences) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which is new, inventive, and... Antoine François Jean Claudet (1797-1867), French photographer, one of the first commercial photographers. ...

The work on the Daguerre process was matched by Fox Talbot in England. Both men knew that they were working on a process that would revolutionise the art world. The Grand Tours which were so popular were illustrated by drawings of scenes and the "photographic" process would improve the quality and ease of which these popular holiday memories could be produced. Daguerre was not aware of the exact process Fox Talbot was working on. To protect his own invention Daguerre patented his process. Because Fox Talbot was an unknown competitor Great Britain was to be the only place the Patent was enforced. Daguerre was granted a pension by the French government for his work and did not need to make money from the invention to live. Fox Talbot spent a considerable amount of money on his invention/process (est £5,000 in 1830's money) and was keen to recover the costs which the Daguerre patent blocked.

The Daguerre process involved the coating of copper plates by mercury vapour. The resultant plate was sensitised and exposed to produce a mirror like exact reproduction of the scene, usually a portrait (the rarer views are much sought after and are more expensive). The portrait process took several minutes but the time reduced with the "faster" lenses such as the Petzval first mathematically calculated lens. The image was a mirror of the original scene. The image could only be viewed at an angle and needed protection from the air and finger prints so was encased in a glass fronted box. Some ambrotypes were passed off as Daguerreotypes by being placed in these type of boxes. But the process was cheaper involving a weakly developed negative being placed on back card or paper to appear as a positive. Tintypes also were "boxed" as Daguerrotypes.

The Daguerreotype was the Polariod of the day producing a single image which was not reproducible. Despite this major drawback millions of Daguerreotypes were produced. The system was not capable of reproduction as the Talbot process and by 1851 when Daguerre died the Fox Talbot negative process was refined by the development of the Wet collodion process so a glass negative allowed the print to be as clear as the Daguerreotype. The original Fox Talbot process was undertaken on paper and the fibres of this negative clouded the image slightly on printing. The new processes with their possible reproduction made the Daguerreotype redundant and the process disappeared very quickly.

Though Daguerre obtained a pension from the Government, despite his contribution, Neipce did not . Eventually his son fought for and won a pension from the government recognising his father's work.

Daguerre died on July 10, 1851 in Bry-sur-Marne, 12 km from Paris. A fine monument marks his grave there. Bry-sur-Marne is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, as viewed from the Trocadéro This article is about the capital and largest city in France. ...

External links

• Works by Louis Daguerre at Project Gutenberg
• The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel by Louis Daguerre