The daguerreotype I examined at the Brooklyn Historical Society was a portrait of two young boys. Since I have not yet taken a portrait this semester, it is difficult to compare the content of the daguerreotype and one of my own from this semester unless I were to compare with one of the statues that I photographed, and still that would not be the same. Therefore I feel the best way to compare a daguerreotype to a contemporary photo, is in physical characteristics and the process. The daguerreotype was a quarter plate size, I believe, making it approximately 3.25 x 4.25 inches. It was a copper plate, which made it reflective, encased in a frame with matting to protect it and had a decent amount of weight to it. By contrast any of the digital images I’ve taken this semester weigh nothing until I decide to print them out and then they weight only as much as the paper they are printed on. My digital images have a maximum print size of 18 x 24, but can be printed at any smaller size and I can print it as many times as I would like. The daguerreotype however could not be reproduced or resized at all as it was a unique image. I very much enjoyed the trip to the Brooklyn Historical Society, it was interesting and the library itself is architecturally beautiful.
