The Silver Canvas - Daguerrotype Masterpieces (Art Photography Ebook)

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T H E O R I G I N S O F T H E D A G U E R R E O T Y P E Even Donne, with his scientific training, was led, after describing the first three steps of making a daguerreotype, to resort to a metaphor to explain the mystery of the process by saying it was as miraculous as the incubation of an egg which produces a live chick. He also poetically described the washing of the plate as a baptism of this new being resulting from human creation. 57 Those eager to make a daguerreotype did not have to depend solely upon oral reports or newspaper accounts, because the next day a detailed instruction manual, prepared by Daguerre himself, was available for purchase. He also had made sure that complete outfits of the necessary equipment had been manufactured and were available for immediate sale. Obviously Daguerre had spent the prior months organizing his resources for this moment. Both the instruction manual and the official equipment quickly sold out and constantly had to be restocked. 58 In Daguerre's manual, a novice could find a concise description of the successive steps necessary to make a daguerreotype using the custommade equipment. Following these instructions, as a fledgling daguerreotypist you would first need to polish a silver-coated copper plate scrupulously, until it shone like a mirror. Then, to make it sensitive to light, you would place the coated side over the vapors of iodine until it turned the "correct" shade of yellow. Now, in its sensitized state, your "silver canvas" was ready to be placed in a lightproof metal container (a version of today's plate holder), which slid into your new daguerreian camera, replacing the piece of ground glass on which you had composed your image visually Now, rather than tracing the scene yourself, as you would have done in the past with your traditional camera obscura, you would remove the lens cap and allow light to fall on the plate, putting nature to work to "portray herself." Surprisingly, in spite of the fifteen to twenty minutes nature was left to work its magic, no visible image would have appeared on the plate when it was removed from the camera obscura. Only after putting it over the fumes of heated mercury—keeping the plate at a mysteriously mandated forty-five-degree angle—could you watch the image emerge. Nature had now described itself on your plate. 59 After a bath in a chemical solution and a final rinse in distilled water, the image was fixed forever. Because, as Arago had said, the daguerreotype surface was as delicate as the wings of a butterfly, you had to protect it by covering it with a piece of glass. Finally, you held in your hand a permanent painting made by nature itself—but with more than a little help from you. 60 Regardless of the detailed instructions in Daguerre's manual, the complicated and inexact procedure dismayed potential enthusiasts, who found it was not an easy task to turn the sun into an obedient painter. The ultimate purchasers of Daguerre s process—the citizens of France—started to wonder whether they had been misled. Their unease about the process was aggravated by the scathing criticism of the entire discovery that appeared a week after Arago's presentation in an article by Jules Janin, an influential and previously enthusiastic supporter of the daguerreotype. 61 In the weekly publication L 'Artiste, Janin gave vent to his anger at the lack of information Arago had provided at the Academy of Sciences. He was biting in his description of that event, particularly incensed that no actual demonstration had been given. He even accused Daguerre of hiding in the shadow of Arago, not daring to risk personally demonstrating the invention France had presented to the world. Janin was not alone in his outspoken views, and the opticians, chemists, artists, and curious amateurs who had taken up the challenge of this new wonder right away also began to lose faith in the process when their results proved worthless, or at best mediocre. 19
FIGURE II Louis JACQUES MANDE DAGUERRE French (1787-1851) The Tuileries and the Seine from the Quai d'Orsay 1839 Whole-plate daguerreotype © Musee des Arts et Metiers-CNAM, Paris/ Photo Studio CNAM Daguerre, clearly dismayed by the discouraging response to his prized invention and perhaps concerned about the government's reaction to this attitude, acted immediately to turn the disgruntled and angry critics into supporters. He sought out Janin directly, berating him for failing to understand the process and telling him to come with him to his studio that very moment to watch him make a daguerreotype. Janin agreed and became completely convinced that it was indeed possible for others to learn the technique. As a result, in the next issue of L 'Artiste, Janin totally reversed his negative opinion about the ease and practicality of carrying out the process. 62 He softened his previous approach by saying that, as he watched Daguerre place the exposed plate over the mercury fumes, it was as if Mab, the queen of fairies, had used her magic to make the image appear. More importantly, he went on to say 20
Page 2: THE SILVER CANVAS
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The Silver Canvas - Daguerrotype Masterpieces (Art Photography Ebook)

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