Photography Invented – 4

It was at this period that Madame Daguerre sought advice as to the sanity of her husband and was not perhaps much comforted by the assurance of the men of science.

Continuing Photography Invented,
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Time: 1838
Place: France

In 1826 Daguerre was informed — probably by Chevalier — that a gentleman at Chalons had already made considerable progress toward the end which he was himself desiring to attain. Letters addressed to Niepce received, however but curt responses and it was not till 1827, when Niepce passed through Paris on his way to England, that he entered into cordial relations with Daguerre. The partnership between these two workers, which was established in 1829, was continued after the death of the elder Niepce, Isidore Niepce taking the place of his father.

Year after year passed away and left our scene painter still toiling after his ideal — ever endeavoring to fix the fleeting images formed by the lens of his camera. His ordinary work is neglected but he passes nine-tenths of his time in his laboratory.

It was at this period that Madame Daguerre sought advice as to the sanity of her husband and was not perhaps much comforted by the assurance of the men of science whom she consulted that the object of her husband’s researches was “not absolutely impossible.” Five years after the death of Niepce his partner was able to announce that he had overcome all difficulties and that henceforth Nature would depict her own likeness with a pencil of light.

In 1838 Daguerre attempted to form a company which should acquire and work the new process; but the Parisian public were utterly incredulous and the shares were not taken up. In this extremity Daguerre showed his specimens and in confidence explained his method to the eminent French astronomer and physicist Arago. Arago’s admiration and delight with this new and wonderful process by which objects were made to draw their own pictures were unbounded. As a man of science and of world-wide reputation, his endorsement of the value of Daguerre’s discovery at once established its worth and on his recommendation the French Government awarded to Daguerre a life pension of six thousand frances and to Isidore Niepce one of four thousand frances per annum, on the condition that the invention should be published without patenting it; this money being paid by France for “the glory of endowing the world of science and of art with one of the most surprising discoveries that honor their native land. ” Notwithstanding this official statement, a patent was taken out by Daguerre in one country, England, in 1839.

Daguerre is said to have placed a written account of his process in the hands of Arago in January, 1839 and at the same time to have publicly exhibited specimens of the results which he had up to that time obtained; but no details were revealed, nor was the paper published until the meeting of the Academy in August of that year. The new process was named “daguerreotype,” and the excitable inhabitants of the French metropolis went into ecstasies over it. Nevertheless, the daguerreotype process was, at the time of its publication, very imperfect and it was destined to undergo important modifications and improvements during the next three or four years.

The news of Daguerre’s wonderful discovery soon spread to other countries and the inventor obtained a rich reward by the sale of apparatus and by the instruction of hundreds who flocked to Paris to learn the details of the new art. A keen observer — Sir John Robinson — wrote as follows in 1839 to a friend in the United States:

Circumstances led to my being included in a small party of English gentlemen who were lately invited to visit the studio of M. Daguerre to see the results of his discovery. I satisfied myself that the pictures produced by his process have no resemblance of anything, as far as I know, that has yet been produced in this country. Excepting the absence of color, they are perfect images as seen by reflection from a highly polished surface. The subjects which I saw were views of streets, boulevards and buildings; vacillating objects made indistinct pictures. There can be no doubt that when the daguerreotype process is known to the public it will be immediately applied to numberless useful processes and even the fine arts will gain; for the eye, accustomed to the accuracy of the Daguerre pictures, will no longer be satisfied with bad drawing, however splendidly it may be colored.”

Every word of this prediction has since been fulfilled.

Daguerre died in 1851, aged sixty-two. In 1883 a bust of this ardent worker was unveiled at Cormeilles; funds for its execution having been contributed by photographers of all civilized nations. Viewing his whole career, Daguerre must be considered as a fortunate man. Not only did he reap much honor and material benefit from his discovery but he lived to see photography rise to an important place among the arts and sciences.

The materials employed by Daguerre in his early experiments — between 1824 and 1829 — appear to have been the same as those used by Wedgwood and Davy — the chloride and nitrate of silver spread upon paper — and he did not advance upon, if in deed he equaled, the results obtained by the two English chemists. After entering into partnership with Niepce and learning the details of his bitumen process, Daguerre followed for a time in the same track; but further study enabled him to work out improvements and modifications which led him ultimately to a greater success. We know that Niepce sometimes used metal plates coated with silver; moreover, he employed iodine to darken these plates after the picture had been developed. Using these two materials, plates of silver and vapor of iodine, Daguerre found that the iodide of silver, formed by exposing silver to the vapor of iodine, was sensitive to light. When such “iodized silver plates” were exposed within the camera, faint images of bright objects were impressed upon them in the course of two or three hours.

At this stage a happy “accident” occurred, which revealed to Daguerre a method by which not only was the time of exposure necessary to secure a good picture greatly reduced but the distinctness and beauty of the image were much enhanced.

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