The Impact of Photography in the 1840's

 

 

 

ca. 1840-43 daguerreotype, my collection

 Sometime in the early 1840's a young man walked past a daguerreotype studio in his town or city. Like most men at that time he wore a suit and tie of the time. He stepped in, plunked down his $2 and waited his turn, looking at the examples of the daguerreotypist's work on display. When his turn came he sat down and the daguerreotypist told him to stay motionless and not blink until he said he could move. It might have seemed an eternity but he got through it. His serious expression revealed his uncertainty about what the picture would be like. He had seen his own reflection in a mirror many times, but once he turned away the reflection was gone. Now he had a permanent mirror reflection. 

We don't know what he did with the picture. Perhaps he gave it to his parents before moving away to the big city to take on a job. Perhaps it was a gift for his fiance or young wife. We don't know. What we do know is that in those early years of photography in America he became one of countless Americans who partook of this hugely popular phenomenon. 

The daguerreotype was introduced in 1839 by Louis Daguerre in France, and quickly caught on in the United States. Daguerreotype studios began popping up in American cities in early 1840. Early daguerreotypes are easy to spot because of their sparse and sometimes stark character, as this image of a young man dating from 1840-1843. The brass mat is coarse and plain, without ornamentation. And most notably, he has the classic deer in the headlight look about him, as if he didn't know what to do. Which is exactly what we could expect from someone who was encountering for the first time a technology that he didn't understand.

Prior to Daguerre's invention a family with means could commission a portrait, perhaps a miniature of a loved one to remember them by if they were away from home, or had died. There would always be an element of the painter flattering the sitter by making adjustments to improve the face. This couldn't be done with a daguerreotype, though. It was warts and all or nothing at all.

What captivated people as they encountered this form of imagery for the first time was the ability to capture the likeness of a person in a short time. Originally it took several minutes for the image to be captured, but gradually that was worked down to a few seconds.

People at the time had no way to adequately describe this new technology. Americans often jumped to the philosophical when thinking about this new invention, noting that just as the daguerreotype process captured the image of the sitter, so too the image of ourselves that were impressed in the minds of those whom we encounter are worthy of consideration:

It is a modern invention of art to catch the intangible image of the human countenance, and preserve it in the form of a perfect likeness. The subject pauses a moment as he passes, and when he looks again, he beholds the beautiful miniature.

Thus we learn our moral miniatures as we pass along among our fellow men. Every human eye is a lens of the camera obscure, and every human heart is a tablet to catch the fleeting shadow. While we dream not of it, our moral visage is reproduced in a thousand hearts.

The Religious Herald, Hartford, CT
Saturday, Mar 21, 1846

Grant Wood, "American Gothic," Art Institute of Chicago (Wikipedia)

The idea that having one's photograph taken included having a stern, expressionless face endured for some time. This standardized view of posing for a photograph lasted for a very long time, well past the era of the daguerreotype, which ended for all practical purposes around 1860 as more affordable options appeared. In effect, people didn't have the stern appearance because they had to because of long exposure time. That actually wasn't very true. It was more likely because having a photograph taken was not the casual thing it is now, but was a formal event, and a serious expression seemed more appropriate. It is generally accepted that Grant Wood modeled his painting, "American Gothic," on this general way of posing for a photograph, what an 1859 writer called the "cold, somber daguerreotype expression." (The Ladies' repository, Volume 19:8, Aug 1859) The expressions on the faces of the man and woman below exemplify this formal attitude. This couple caught my attention because their serious expressions give the impression that they were waiting to be executed.

ca. 1847 daguerreotype, my collection

 

 Facial expressions aside, Americans quickly realized the novelty of this new invention. The idea of having an actual image of oneself or of a friend or loved one was important. Daguerreotypes were expensive, though, the equivalent of at least $40, so they were not taken very often by many. 

An 1852 poem, "The Gold Hunter and the Daguerreotype," written in the sentimental style of the time, was about a prospector who had left his family back east to make his fortune prospecting for gold in California. He had been gone for a year and missed his family. As he sits wistfully, thinking of his wife and family, someone delivers a small package to him that contains a daguerreotype of his children, sent from home:

A stranger greets him a moment, and leaves

A package, for his hand 

Eager he breaks the seal, as he sees

It comes from his native land.

A small clasped case-he touches a spring

When, like the light of a star,

Two sweet faces look up into his,

Laughing out, "Here we are, Pa."

The Pacific, Oct 22, 1852  

Daguerreotype, ca. 1847, my collection

Memory soon became a prominent motivation for people to have their photograph made. The young man pictured above probably went on and had his picture taken a number of times in his lifetime, with new and easier, more affordable technologies available. A particular sub-genre of daguerreotypes, though, reveals an older generation of Americans. Daguerreotypes of elderly women are very common, pointing toward their importance to families. This image dates from around 1847. It's safe to guess that the woman it portrays was probably around seventy years old, perhaps older. If that were the case, she would have been born in the later years of the eighteenth century, perhaps around the time of the beginning of the American Revolution in 1776. Given the shorter average life span at the time, someone in her 70's would have lived a long life. It's easy to understand why a family would persuade their grandmother to have her photograph taken so they could remember her when she had died. This photograph is likely the only picture ever taken of this unidentified woman, and it depicts someone who grew up and matured in the previous century when such technology was unheard of. Rarer still are daguerreotypes taken of surviving veterans of the American Revolution.

Daguerreotype, ca. 1847-50. My collection

A younger generation, such as the young man above, took advantage of the novelty and had their picture made. The daguerreotype of the young woman below dates from about 1843-47. It would appear that she is probably twenty years or so old at best. Was the picture made when she turned eighteen, or when she became engaged? If she was in her early twenties, that would put her birth date at the early 1820's. In all likelihood, barring illness or accident, she could have lived into the 1880's. The young man to the left, in a daguerreotype made in the later 1840's, may have been about the same age as our young woman. You have to use your imagination to speculate on what wild color his vest was, but he is clearly dressed for success.

Daguerreotype ca. 1843-7. My collection

With our world constantly bombarded with images today, it is difficult to imagine a world in which a technology was able to produce an exact visual image of a person. These images were valuable and held a place of pride in a home. They also provided a visible way to remember someone who was afar off, or no longer living. It is helpful to pause and consider how precious a single image could be.

One last sub-genre of daguerreotypes is images of the recently deceased. This may sound ghoulish to us today, but if an elderly parent died and the family had never had a daguerreotype made of them while they were living, photographing them in death was the last option available to have an image of the loved one.  This was common enough so that a daguerreotype studio in Hartford, Connecticut advertised in 1846 that they could take images of the deceased accurately.

 

Hartford Times, Oct 24, 1846

The possibilities for the new art of photography grew as the technology improved and became easier to do and more affordable. Daguerreotypes were complicated to make, involving several chemical processes that had to be done precisely. With the advent of ambrotypes and tintypes in the 1850's photographs came within reach of average people.