THE GREAT ONES
Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre
V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
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Daguerre (1789 A.D. — 1851 A.D.) invented the first practical method of making photographs.
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ILLUSTRATION: V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
Louis Daguerre is the "Father of photograpy".
He was the French scientist who invented the first practical method of making photographs, in partnership with Niepce, another French inventor.
Daguerre was born on November 18, 1789, in France.
He was first a tax official and then worked as a scene painter for a Paris Opera House.
Playing with optical effects to make the backdrops more entertaining, Daguerre became interested in making the images made by the play of sunlight permanent.
Freezing light
It was known that light could darken silver compounds and Daguerre used copper plates on which the silver salts were deposited. Light was made to focus on that and an image was formed. The light portions of the image darkened the salts, while the shadowy portions left them unaffected.
The unchanged salt was washed away by sodium thiosulphate and a permanent image of sorts was left behind.
The new advance was reported to the French Academy of Sciences in 1839 and Daguerre was immediately appointed an officer of the Legion of Honour.
The process was tedious, and the results were dim but, as Isaac Asimov wrote: `The notion of a picture painted by sunlight and without the imperfections introduced by human fallibility caught on everywhere.' The photograph produced was known as "daguerreotype" and the French government gave the invention to the world, free of charge.
The process used by Daguerre remained in vogue for about 25 years, until new techniques for taking quicker photos with copies, using negatives developed and photographs became a powerful tool in business.
Daguerre, the pioneer of photography, died on July 12, 1851, in Paris.
This is an extract from the book The Great Ones by V.K.Subramanian, Abhinav Publications, New Delhi
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