The Daguerreotype
1839-1860's
Invented by Frenchman Louis-Jacques-Mandé
Daguerre in 1839, the Daguerreotype was the first photographic process
to become commercially viable.
The Daguerreotype boasts a stunning degree of clarity, unmatched by many of today's photographic processes. Long exposure times of up to 20 minutes meant that the Daguerreotype was initially reserved for landscape and object photography. Advances in the process enabled portraits to be taken with shorter exposure times of around a minute. To counteract movement, the sitter was rested against a series of neck and body braces.
Reserved mainly for the middle and upper classes,
a single portrait cost the equivalent of a weeks average wage.
Despite its practical weaknesses, the Daguerreotype captured the populations
imagination and inspired the refinement of the photographic process.
The Ambrotype
While visually very similar and almost indistinguishable from the Daguerreotype, Ambrotypes first appeared in the 1850's. The image was produced on a glass plate and sandwiched into a case with a black tin backing. To tell the difference between the two you can hold it up at an angle. A Daguerreotype will only be visible at certain angles and look obscured at others. An Ambrotype on the other hand can be easily viewed at any angle.
