Daguerreotype

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Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photographic process, widely used from the 1830s to 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839, the daguerreotype was almost completely superseded by 1856 with new, less expensive processes, such as the ambrotype (collodion process), that yield more readily viewable images. Since the late 20th century, some photographers interested in making artistic use of early photographic processes have revived the daguerreotype process. To make the image, a daguerreotypist polished a sheet of silver-plated copper to a mirror finish; treated it with fumes that made its surface light-sensitive; exposed it in a camera for as long as was judged to be necessary, which could be as little as a few seconds for brightly sunlit subjects or much longer with less intense lighting; made the resulting latent image on it visible by fuming it with mercury vapor; removed its...

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