Early Paris Street Scene taken by Louis Daguerre with his process in c1838
Toronto. Serious photography historians and collectors know what is meant by a Daguerreotype. In early January 1839, French newspapers published the electrifying news that Louise Daguerre had discovered a way to capture a scene by sunlight and make the image permanent.
But the papers carried no information on how to make and process such an image. That is, until 19 August, 1839 when Daguerre’s “idea was then effectively sold to the French Academy of Sciences, which subsequently gifted the process to the world on 19 August 1839.” Daguerre received a “generous income” for this act. However, people in England were obliged to pay a fee to use the process. Jabez Hogg promoted the idea of photographing through a microscope … until he saw the demand for a fee (I have a few editions of Mr Hogg’s book on the microscope).
When the idea came to celebrate photography by naming a day, it was decided to celebrate each 19 August as the beginning of photography. My thanks to Digital Camera World for reminding me within article posted on the 19th: “World Photography Day: what is it, and why is it today?“.
