James Baquet

    Today we meet our second “double-threat,” a Francophone scientist and artist born in the 1780s and dying in 1851 like John James Audubon (1785-1851).

    Louis Daguerre (1787-1851) lent his name to the photographic progress known as the daguerreotype, earning him fame as one of the Fathers of Photography. His was the first photographic process available to the public (previous processes had been experimental and, largely, failures). It was the most common way to “take a picture” for nearly two decades, despite the delicate and complicated nature of the process.

    Daguerre was an artist who had studied architecture, theater design, and the painting of panoramas. He also invented the diorama, a form of painting that — when the light was shifted — gave an appearance of movement. Some consider dioramas a precursor to “moving pictures” — movies. (The word “diorama” today generally refers to miniature — or sometimes full-sized — scenes composed of models and painted backdrops.)

    What became the daguerreotype was actually the work of two men, Daguerre and his partner Nicephore Niepce. Back in 1822, Niepce had perfected the “heliograph” or sun print. This had been a layer of asphalt on a metal plate; when exposed to the sun, the areas hit with stronger light hardened, and the softer (darker) areas could be washed away. The exposure took several hours — perhaps even days — to make, so it was impractical.

    Daguerre and Niepce began experimenting in 1829, making progress toward the daguerreotype. Niepce died in 1833, but Daguerre continued, and when at last the process was perfected and sold to the French Government, Daguerre insured that Niepce’s son also received a pension.

    The French Government subsequently gave the process “free to the world,” sharing the instructions publicly. The world has never been the same. Daguerre’s process was replaced with faster and cheaper processes, producing more easily shared images. This has led to the digital explosion we are experiencing today, but the concept is the same: a box with a lens, light-sensitive material, and voila!

    Vocabulary

    Which word above means:

    1. in the development stage

    2. wide scenes

    3. a fixed amount paid regularly for past services

    4. sensitive, easily damaged

    5. not easily accomplished

    6. backgrounds, often on cloth

    7. French for “There [it is]!”

    8. moved, changed

    9. taking of a photo

    10. a black sticky material used on roads