Brooklyn Historical Society – Crystal Pena

The daguerreotypes that we learned about today at the Brooklyn Historical Society are very different from the photographs we have taken Over the course of this semester and since the invention of digital cameras. In our photographs today, the subjects are able to move around freely and we are able to travel easily when needed. Photographers are able to capture a shot of their subject  in their natural environment easily.  When using daguerreotypes,  it would often take up to 20 seconds to capture 1 shot of the subject which resulted in  very posed, expressionless candids.  For daguerreotype images, only a photography studio would be able to process the images for a person. With modern photography, anyone is able to take pictures and cameras are more accessible . Images today are also much higher quality then before. Daguerreotypes were made on a Silver plate which was highly reflective. the lighting gave the images a certain holographic look.