LL3 – BHS

Photography has long improved over the years since the 19th Century. One of the earliest camera instruments was a daguerreotype which made capturing your surroundings much more efficient. People sought different ways to create images other than a hand painter where they had to travel to a studio and remain very still for several sittings until the image was finally complete. Today, we visited the Brooklyn Historical Society and discovered this instrument that changed the world of photographs. The daguerreotype was able to produce an image or picture needing just 20 minutes or less for exposure. You might think that to be very long, but in the 1800’s it was much more faster than a painters hand. In the daguerreotype process, a plate holds a copper plate in place and the plate is then exposed to the camera. With the help of some chemicals like mercury, the image is then developed in a solution of salt, which brings out a gold tint in the photograph. These small, copper like images changed the means of photography and helped saved loved ones memories more sufficiently. The details were impeccable and actually being able to hold these images at the Brooklyn Historical Society led me discover the history of photography.