Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre - Essay Example

Daguerre used immaculately polished and silver-plated sheets of copper, which were sensitized with iodine vapors to catch photographic images (Carlisle 255). These sheets were exposed in big box cameras and were later developed in mercury fumes (Carlisle 255). Later on, they were fixed or stabilized in sodium thiosulphate or hypo (Carlisle 255). Daguerreotype photography required little exposure time and allowed for the capturing of photographic images that were impressively detailed and vivid (Carlisle 255).

Daguerre promoted the daguerreotype photography invented by him both as a medium of artistic expression and as a potent scientific tool. Most of the earlier experimental works made by Daguerre were destroyed in the fire that burned his laboratory. Yet, today still survives a few of his daguerreotype portraits, urban views, and still lives, speak much for the ingenuity and aesthetic appeal of Daguerre’s invention.

Though Louis Daguerre dies of a heart attack in 1851, his photographic technique continues to inspire the contemporary world of art.