An Incredible Invention

Photography: 1837-1918

Daguerreotypes Ambrotypes Tintypes Albumens (CDVS, cabinet cards) Real photo postcards

Types of Photographic Images

Invented by a French chemist named Louis Daguerre The first photo ever taken was a street scene in Paris The daguerreotype was made on a copper plate

coated with polished silver It took approximately 3-4 minutes for the image to

be burned onto the plate (longer if the lighting was poor)

The sitter had a neck brace to keep them still Studios had huge skylights to let in as much light as

possible.

Daguerreotypes (1837-1860)

Portraits of people are the most

common

Portraits of animals and outdoor images

are rare

Ambrotypes were really just daguerreotypes

done on glass. They were much cheaper to produce and

cheaper to make They are really a negative image on a glass

plate backed with black paint or black fabric to make them into a “positive”

Ambrotypes (1854-1865)

Why do you think the ambrotype was not popular for very long?

Tintypes (1854-1900)

Tintypes replaced ambrotypes and

daguerreotypes because they were much more durable and cheaper to produce.

They were made on a thin plate of sheet iron coated with a thin black varnish

Albumens, Carte de visites ( CDVs), and

Cabinet Cards A glass negative was used to produce

numerous paper “positives” The paper was coated with egg whites and

other chemicals Very popular because you could leave the

photographers studio with more than one image. You could also write messages on them and give them away

Images on paper

Do you recognize these two famous personalities both taken

in cdv format?

Rare cdv of a locomotive in Pennsylvania

Examples of Rare Cabinet Cards

Real Photo PostcardsThis was a gimmick that became very popular: Have a picture taken of yourself and send it off to someone you love as a postcard!

Post mortems were a part of 19th century

culture. For some, this was the only picture they may have of a loved one.

Post Mortem Photography