Monday 24th, 2012

Hello again, I've come back with a new prompt!

. What is a daguerreotype? What did the surface of a daguerreotype resemble? When were they prominent? What photographic process did the daguerreotype replace?

2. What is an "albumen" print? What was the main "ingredient" of the albumen process? When did the albumen process die out?

3. What is a "stereograph?" When were they popular?

4. What is a "carte de visite?" What were they used for?

5. Who were Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner? They both are notable for what type of photography? When were they active? Post two noteworthy photographs for each photographer.

Daguerre

The definition of a daguerreotype is a photograph taken using an iodine-sensitized silvered plating and mercury vapor. (I paraphrased this from google's web definition.)

The surface of the silver plating must be polished to the extreme in order to reflect darker parts of the image away from the silver so it may appear as a positive image. This process was mostly used during the late 1800's when Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre made his process free to the public in 1839. He created it as a refined version of heliography, which Nicéphore Niépce used to create his idea of photography.

Here's a daguerreotype camera!

When I first looked up "albumen" all I found out was it was a synonym for egg white, I had some suspicions then, so I looked further into it and found albumen prints. They are pictures that are made by coating paper in an egg white solution and then spraying it or covering it with silver nitrate. This process was also very popular in the late 1800's but died out in the 80's.

Soaking process

Lady Wilfred Scawan Blunt 

This is all I have time for right now, I hope you enjoy what I have, I'll be back with an update!