Louis Daguerre

Even though we take pictures all the time, very few have actually heard about Louis Daguerre (1787 - 1851), who was one of the first inventors of photography. Some people had before him made photographic copies, but these were sensitive to light, and did not stand the test of time. Louis Daguerre, on the other hand discovered how silver iodide is sensitive to light, and managed to stick this to glass plates and make photographies, called Daguerrotypes. The thing that distinguished his invention from other contemporary techniques was that he also, after a lot of testing, discovered an efficient fixation for these images, making them a lot more resistant to light and time than other techniques, even modern ones.

The Daguerrotype was a commercial hit, but lasted for only about ten years, before less complicated methods made Daguerre's invention obsolete.

If you are more than normally interested in Daguerrotypes, you can become member of the Daguerreian Society (www.daguerre.org)...