Digital Photograhy

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.

Our second trip with the class. The Brooklyn Historical Society. First time for me in this place. Beautiful library. Classic. With this visit people can observe, in this particular case, how different was photography in the 1800´s and how is in the present.

The daguerreotype, a direct-positive process, was created with a long and tedious method. This, included polished a plate, mix chemicals, transfer to the cameras, mix some other chemicals, and  so on. All of this involved hours and hours of time. Today, taken and printing a photograph is simpler. People with a digital camera or even with a dSLR, they just need to snap the object, person or whatever they want to shoot, and you can see it right on the screen. If you like your picture, you keep it and just go to the store and they will print it for you. Depends of the paper and some specifications, you can have the pictures right away in your hands.

Daguerreotype was a classic object that people used to decorate their homes. And was more for portraits than objects or landscapes. Today, they look classic and amazing but, definitely is easier the process of photography now. We have options in cameras, colors, black and white, and hundreds of effects that we can use with our pictures to make them look amazing and originals.

Daguerreotype of Amelia Farrington, Circa 1855, DAG 05: Photography collection; Brooklyn Historical Society

As we went to the Brooklyn Historical Society, I found out the daguerreotype becomes very delicate throughout the years and the images can disappear. We learned that the Daguerreotype is a positive process that is created with a metal plate that was developed over hot mercury until an image is appeared. The Daguerreotype I handled at BHS was a photograph of a woman that was taken in the mid 1970’s. The photograph looks like its fading away but the image was still clear, it also was an inverted colored image. It was very difficult to view the image from far away but to see it clearly I had to view it closely. Between Daguerreotype and Photography taken today, I believe are similar because it’s a long process to make the Daguerreotype and using the cameras today it doesn’t take that long but to get it just perfect it will take some time. Surprisingly, the photograph was very detailed just like the photographs that are taken today. The photograph I have taken this semester is similar to the Daguerreotype, Amelia Farrington. It is not exactly an inverted colored image but my photograph is positive space as shown and it is also very detailed.