The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre
Photographer
Author
Book Genre
Photograph Title
Le Stryge (The Vampire) 1853 (large oval detail)
Notes
Despite the title of this novel, the cover image is not by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, nor is it a portrait of Daguerre. It is by Charles Nègre, another French
phtotographer of the era, and the figure standing next to the famous Notre Dame gargoyle is yet another photographer, Henri LeSecq.
Daguerre, one of the inventors of photography, named the results of his new process Daguerreotypes. They were exquisitely detailed images on a silvery, mirror-like surface, and were, in fact, one of a kind. There was no negative from which positive copies could be made. Daguerreotypes were often presented in frames like the one illustrated on this book's cover.
Negre's photograph, however, is not a Daguerreotype; it is a Salt Print, a process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot, in which an intermediary paper negative was exposed, theoretically allowing multiple positives to be made.
The title of the photograph, Le Styrge (translates to The Vampire), is generally credited to André Jammes.
To view an uncropped version of Nègre's photo, from the collection of the Musée d'Orsay, click here.
phtotographer of the era, and the figure standing next to the famous Notre Dame gargoyle is yet another photographer, Henri LeSecq.
Daguerre, one of the inventors of photography, named the results of his new process Daguerreotypes. They were exquisitely detailed images on a silvery, mirror-like surface, and were, in fact, one of a kind. There was no negative from which positive copies could be made. Daguerreotypes were often presented in frames like the one illustrated on this book's cover.
Negre's photograph, however, is not a Daguerreotype; it is a Salt Print, a process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot, in which an intermediary paper negative was exposed, theoretically allowing multiple positives to be made.
The title of the photograph, Le Styrge (translates to The Vampire), is generally credited to André Jammes.
To view an uncropped version of Nègre's photo, from the collection of the Musée d'Orsay, click here.
Photo Genre
Collection
Citation
“The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre,” Covering Photography, accessed November 21, 2024, https://coveringphotography.bc.edu/items/show/7052.