A Small Exhibition of Early Photographs from the Museum's Collection


Just over a hundred and fifty years ago, an idea which had been familiar to many different people for some time became a practical reality. In January 1839, after several decades of experiments to create an enduring image through the action of light on sensitized surfaces, two processes that had been invented independently in the 1830s were announced to the public. Images could be made to 'draw' themselves and a visual medium was born that changed the world as far as humans perceived it.

This small exhibition, drawn entirely from the Museum's collection, presents some examples of the earliest types of photographic image. It concentrates only on the first three processes to be developed: Daguerreotypes, Photogenic Drawings and Calotypes. By the end of the 1850s each of these processes had been superceded - indeed, the latest dated item in the exhibition is from only 1855.

Daguerreotypes     Photogenic Drawings     Calotypes


Bibliography


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