ThrowBack: Daguerreotype vs Calotype

The arrival of machines changed the way human beings see and feel the world. Inventions such as the clock allowed to measure time. Others, such as the camera, immortalized the human face, and our history from that point on.

The birth of photography begins with the invention of the camera obscura, which consists of projecting an image through a pinhole on a white surface. The camera obscura was used by painters to have more accurate proportions and shapes. Even though, tracing sounds like something easy to do, a skill level was required. Then, this sparked a desire to capture the image on paper without the need to be an expert painter. So, people started to experiment with chemicals and materials (Rosenblum,2008).

In the book A world history of photography (2008), Naomi Rosenblum illustrates that in 1816 the Niépce brothers began experimentation with photosensitive materials. Thirteen years later, Niépce associated with the French artist Louis Daguerre, with whom they discover how to portray images with silver iodide. This partnership produced what we know today as a daguerreotype, a method that exposed to light a silver-coated coopered plate that was exposed to the light and then sealed with hypo. This plate was placed in a glass case to avoid scratches and fingerprints. In 1839 it became popular because the French government bought the rights and divulged them (Rosenblum,2008).

However, the daguerreotype was not the only process that developed at the time. In 1833 the British scientist William Henry Fox Talbot developed his method by covering a piece of paper with table salt and silver nitrate, this form a negative copy. The negative is placed on another photosensitive paper to make a positive copy, which was fix with hydro. One of the advantages of this process is that it could be repeated multiple times as long as the negative was kept intact (Rosenblum,2008).

Although, the two methods were developed at the same time the daguerreotypes gained greater popularity than the calotypes. One of the main reasons why the daguerreotypes were more popular is the fact that the process was faster and the result was sharp and realistic. In contrast to the calotype whose images were soft and granulated. You could even say that the calotypes were depicting a fantasy ethereal world (George Eastman Museum, 2014). However, this play against the calotype due to the desire for fidelity led to the need for retouching the images by a painter, which lengthened the process of obtaining the image (Parry,2020).

On the other hand, it can be seen that the daguerreotypes involved staying completely still since a smile or the smallest movement could distort the image. Thus, photographers used different resources, like clamps and special chairs, to keep the body in the same position (Rosenblum,2008). Additionally, daguerreotypes involved having status and money, because the price was equal to have a fancy dinner for a month (Parry,2020). Not only that, but the daguerreotype also allowed transcendence in time, not to be forgotten and not to forget those who were before us, so it is very common that at the time families decided to include in the picture those who recently passed away (Rosenblum,2008).

Contrary to the daguerreotypes, calotypes were more candid and less stiff, so they started to work as evidence of reality and daily life. They were used in the ID due to they could be carried easily and that you could create cheaper multiple copies (Parry,2020).

Finally, it can be concluded that the daguerreotype such and the calotype brought different aspects to modern photography and how we conceived it. Likewise, as photographers, photography history reminds us of the fascination, effort, and magic of creating images, something that we forget since it is a process that has been simplified and automatizes.

Bibliography:

George Eastman Museum. (2014a, December 12). YouTube. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d932Q6jYRg8&t=216s

George Eastman Museum. (2014b, December 12). YouTube. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwV-HikQ63I&t=231s

Rosenblum, N. (2008). A World History of Photography (Fourth). New York: Abbeville Press.

Parry, S. (2020, January 15). History of Photography.