Daguerreotypes and Early Photography for Costumers

[@lovy3005]

"Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of my favourite books and it mentions Daguerreotypes quite frequently. I wondered the entire time what exactly it was and how it worked. Thanks for showing me in this Video!

[@VtorHunter]

I'm glad I could solve the mystery!

[@skoplpnews9450]

Thank you very much for your fantastic series! I'm a collector myself, and looking at those images of real people who actually held those cases and images in their hands at some point, feels just like magic. Regarding hazardous chemicals: The George Eastman House recently published a video presenting an alternative method to developing a daguerreotype with mercury fumes, it's pretty amazing!

[@Ompe8]

That's quite a major - Photography, Theatre Design, and Agriculture - I love it... Thanks for this video, it was very interesting.

[@VtorHunter]

Glad you enjoyed it! I thought I would never find something combines all of those three into one, and then I found living history.

[@shanahirsch1426]

This is, without a doubt, the best thing that I have watched all year.

[@VtorHunter]

Thanks! Just wait for the others!

[@kipp5083]

This video was so fascinating!!!! I love seeing your absolute joy in talking about this topic, it is infectious! If I know anyone who respects their chemicals, it is totally you.

[@VtorHunter]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@jackiejames4551]

Fascinating. Thank you.

[@VtorHunter]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@k8cre8s17]

Nerding out! Now I need to find one on my next antique-ing date with the hubs! They’re fascinating!

[@VtorHunter]

Good luck! I hope you find some.

[@rachelpattinwadland8388]

Fabulous. So good. I agree 100% with Shana that this is the best thing I’ve seen all year. Great to see you in your element, Vtor. Miss you, love you, inspired by you more each day. -Rpat

[@VtorHunter]

Miss you too!! Thanks for watching my video, I am so glad you enjoyed it.

[@themusecalliope1066]

I am here for the early photography videos! Thank you for making this one.

[@VtorHunter]

My pleasure! Early photography is the best.

[@Shannon-Townsend]

I always enjoy your videos and your delivery, this was no exception! Can't wait for tomorrow's!

[@VtorHunter]

Thank you so much!

[@sgtiner1163]

Wonderful video. I love all types of photography an took advantage of elective classes in college and consider it my favorite hobby. It's great that you're sharing your knowledge of the history of photography, especially explaining the types and time periods. This is very useful in determining the age of a photo in conjunction with style of dress. It's also just plain fascinating. Thank you!

[@VtorHunter]

I'm really glad you enjoyed them!

[@МарияПанфилова-т7у]

This is the first video I've seen on early photography and I can't wait to see the rest of the series :3 I used to see 19s century photos and daggerotypes more like portraits, but now I look at them and see real people who actually lived back in the day, and it makes me wonder what their lives were like (a weird feeling that I never get from portraits). It's so fascinating!

[@VtorHunter]

I know what you mean. It's easy for me to think about people in the past as drawings, which sounds weird, but you might know the feeling. It's so much easier to think of these people as actual people with lives and feelings when looking at these photos. I hope you enjoy the rest of the series!

[@liessabai]

Thank you for the video! Cool to see something that is not about the sewing or clothing per se, but gives such an in depth view into the use of historical objects and clothing. I look forward to the other parts!

[@VtorHunter]

Glad you enjoyed it! I hope you like the other parts as well.

[@cheerful_something_something]

Thank you for sharing your hobby and enthusiasm : ) Older photography is truly fascinating.

[@VtorHunter]

It so is! I'm glad to share and hope you enjoy this series.

[@gloriac.266]

As a fan of photography ( I shoot digital, dont have money or space for a darkroom or film) I was super excited about this talk. However, I would have liked if you went even more depth on the process of taking daguerreotypes: lighting set up, how they posed the subjects, step by step process of transferring the image to the silver plate, how did the daguerreotype get so cheap, etc...

[@VtorHunter]

Those would be very interesting things to cover, but I didn't want to make the video TOO long. I have only done the dag process a couple times, so I am not a familiar with it in depth but I will probably cover a lot of those things when I shot a video taking my portrait in wet plate in the next month or two. The Daguerriean Society does have a video linked on their website showing how the process is done, if you are specifically interested in dags.

[@HumdingerGraphics]

I loved this video! I was not lucky enough to one of the mirror type photos but I do have a few tin types in my albums of family members. So cool... Now off to watch the video on tin types... Thank you for your knowledge. ❤️

[@VtorHunter]

Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it! So cool that you have some tintypes of your family.

[@selkiemorien9006]

I was so excited, when I read your topic in the schedule ^_____^ Absolutely love early photography and know nothing about the process, really. Maybe I'll even find out, what type the photo of my great-great-great (?) aunt is - it's a little bizarre to look at, because she looks so much like me, it's scary. Looking forward to watching your other videos!

[@VtorHunter]

I'm so glad! Early photography is fascinating. That is so cool you have that photo of your relative who looks just like you. Did you figure out what the process was yet?

[@selkiemorien9006]

Vtor Hunter Not yet, from the clothes I'd think it was from somewhere in the 1850 (probably, my country was always somewhat behind in fashion). I'll tell you, when I have a more solid idea, need to look up a bunch of stuff 😀

[@sc0ttishlass]

Looking forward to your next videos. Now I am going through your back catalogue. Thanks for sharing :)

[@VtorHunter]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@annanowak147]

That is so cool, I had no idea. Thank you!

[@VtorHunter]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@TheBibliophiliac]

I'm planning on watching all of your photography videos.

[@VtorHunter]

Thank you! I hope that you enjoy them and learn some things

[@l.schweig4852]

I am thrilled to watch ALL you videos in this series. I have come into possession of two jewelry pendants that I believe are dags from the highly polished surfaces. They appear to have hand coloring applied, and one even has a lock of hair encased in a window on the back of the pendant. Perhaps they are not dags, so I will need to keep watching. Curious to know too if you ever use early motion picture for costume reference? It is amazing to see clothing in motion.

[@VtorHunter]

I am really glad you are enjoying them. Those pieces of jewelry sound super cool. I have never seen a dag in a pendant before, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. The copper plate could be hard to cut down. Do they look like they are on a mirror and when you change the angle you look at them do they sometimes shift into negative? Then they would be dag. They could be something else too. There are some other more obscure processes as well. Or they could be tintypes, they were common to be in pendants.

[@VtorHunter]

And I meant to say, good idea about early motion picture for costume reference! I am going to have to look into them more. I did a quarter on history of film 1888-1929 in college and loved it. Thanks for reminding about it!

[@l.schweig4852]

@@VtorHunter I found my "lady" pendand just now in my sewing box- and indeed if I tilt her to the proper angle her nice white cap turns black, her hair turns white. The pendant is circular, though with all my tilting today I can perceive a straight edge on one side of the image. The decay creeping in obscures some of the edges. If I measure where Ithink the edges are the image would be 7/8 inch by 1 and 1/8 inch. The glass covering the image has a slight bevel and there is a gold-ish frame. The back of the pendant is not magnetic, but it is not tarnished. It's not silver for sure, but it is not iron. What a mystery! My other pendant is much bigger, maybe 2 or 2.5 inches and oval shaped. I can't put my hands on it. I have had not luck finding a conservator that will reply to my inquiries, even when I use the "contact us" forms on their web pages. I keep on trying.

[@l.schweig4852]

@@VtorHunter The Library of Congress has some great motion picture (and photographic) images digitized and available for download. "American Memory" and the "National Screening Room" are good places to look. It is a great resource for the public!

[@CraftsyPenguin]

wow, that was interesting! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the series :)

[@VtorHunter]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@brittanymcguff]

Ok now I want to find one! So cool!

[@VtorHunter]

They really are!

[@kimberly_erin]

Great video! Thank you!

[@VtorHunter]

Glad you liked it!

[@mailleofmidgard3056]

This is awesome! Definitely going to try to see one at some point!

[@VtorHunter]

Thanks! Please do!

[@chronischgeheilt]

Wow that is so fascinating! Thank you :)

[@VtorHunter]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@weavernicelymorris5224]

this was really interesting!

[@VtorHunter]

Thank you!

[@photogchik007]

Hello! Photography nerd here. If you are interested in the representation of minority groups in photography I recommend "Photography's Other History" edited by Christopher Pinney and Nicolas Peterson. It is a collection of essays about the non-white experience and photography. I'm not sure that it reference historic practices but is still a very interesting book when it comes to looking at the non-white experience.

[@VtorHunter]

Thank you!! That sounds like a fascinating book and I am going to try and locate a copy.

[@daleannharsh8295]

Interesting!

[@VtorHunter]

Glad you think so!

[@stephaniesews6603]

Would it be useful to put a anti-reflective museum-grade glass in front of the photography? To protect it from UV-light (if that's needed for daguerreotypes) but also to minimize additional reflection? Asking as a picture framer; the day someone brings a daguerreotype with a broken seal in will come.

[@VtorHunter]

I'm not sure. It's a good question. If I was going to frame a dag, say I had one of a family member (or just a super cool one) and the case was broken, I think one would look really good to float mount it (don't know if that is what it is actually called) and then put that glass over it. I think that is the kind of glass we have in front of our wedding tintype and it is amazing how much easier it is to see through! UV sensitivity is a debated topic. I will try to remember to ask in the Daguerriean Society's facebook page if people have experience or opinions about using that glass as the cover class.

[@lasairdhubh]

Woo hoo!

[@VtorHunter]

Yeah!

[@meltyblend]

Would you happen to know anything about the restoration/conservation of these, or resources who might? I have a modest collection of dagguerrreo/tin/ambrotypes from my grandmother, but many of them are in crumbly cases or a bit of foil and they're currently being held in a dark box in a plastic bag.

[@VtorHunter]

I don't know a ton about it, but the Daguerreian Society has some good info about caring for them in their FAQ page. Check there and if they don't have the answers you're looking for maybe contact them? www.daguerreiansociety.org/facts-about-daguerreotypes_faq/

[@bethrichards7414]

< eyebrow> "Evergreen." Small, radical, liberal arts MOOD

[@VtorHunter]

Omnia Extares

[@bethrichards7414]

@@VtorHunter "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"

[@chronischgeheilt]

Could you let us know the badge code? Thank you! :D

[@VtorHunter]

You've got to watch the video for that- I put it on the screen :) (but if you can't see it for accessibility reasons, like you're using a screen reader or something, then let me know)

[@chronischgeheilt]

@@VtorHunter oh OK, I was listening to the video whilst doing something and since you didn't say anything like 'here's the code' I must've missed it. Thank you :)

[@VtorHunter]

Yeah, I forgot to film a bit saying here is your code. It's at the end. But I did remember to film it for my other videos!