Louis Daguerre is rightfully considered the creator of the art of photography. For many years he was looking for a way to capture realistic images. The scientist's persistence was rewarded. In the mid-40s of the 19th century, the daguerreotype method began to spread widely, first in France, and then throughout the world.
From the biography of Louis Daguerre
The future artist, chemist, one of the creators of photography was born on November 18, 1787. His homeland is the French city of Cormeil. From an early age, Louis was distinguished by his talent for the visual arts. The family immediately drew attention to the son's abilities. His parents sent him to the Orleans art school. There Daguerre studied for three years, after which he moved to the capital of France. He got a job in a theater workshop and plunged headlong into creativity.
While working at the theater, Louis created excellent sets that the audience always liked. In 1822, the young man created a graceful diorama in which the effect of presence was masterfully recreated. The image was so natural that the audience wanted to step into the picture and immerse themselves in the landscape.
Daguerre used a camera obscura to create huge volumetric images. However, he could not fix the image on the screen.
Already at that time, Daguerre was more interested in how the original image could be captured. He strove to make his work as realistic as possible.
Towards photography
Daguerre worked together with Joseph Niepce, who had previously worked in the technique of lithography on stone and metal, to create the method of photography. However, in 1833 Niepce passed away. Daguerre invented his original method and brought it to practical application on his own.
The idea was to obtain a stable image using mercury vapor. The discovery, as has often happened in history, was helped by chance. Daguerre hid several latent discs in the closet. After a while, he was surprised to find that the image on one of the plates had appeared. Successively excluding the chemicals stored in the closet from consideration, Daguerre found that the desired effect was caused by a cup of mercury, the vapors of which made the latent image visible.
Still, the pictures came out weak. Daguerre expanded the range of substances used by introducing chlorine oxide and sugar into circulation. In the course of experiments that lasted more than a decade, it turned out that to fix the image, it is enough to wash off the particles of silver iodide with a strong solution of the most common salt.
This is how the daguerreotype appeared
Daguerre devoted several years of his life to chemical experiments. In 1837 he made an outstanding discovery: Daguerre was able to fix the image on a plate made of copper. This method later became the basis of modern photography.
Daguerre's discovery made the author one of the most famous people of his time. Since the beginning of the 40s of the XIX century, many studios have already offered their clients the creation of realistic images. By the name of the inventor, these images were called daguerreotypes.
Louis Daguerre passed away on July 10, 1851. The Daguerre method gained worldwide fame after the death of the inventor. The scientist's contribution was appreciated by his contemporaries and descendants. Daguerre's name is included in the list of the most prominent scientists in France.
