Daguerreobase

The daguerreotype was the first successful photographic process in the history of photography. On January 7, 1839 the daguerreotype was presented at the 'Académie des sciènces' in Paris. The daguerreotype is named after Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851), who invented the process together with Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833).

The basis of the daguerreotype is a highly polished metal plate, consisting of a wafer-thin layer of silver on a copper support. In contrast to photographic paper, a daguerreotype is not flexible and is rather heavy.

A daguerreotype is a unique, non-reproducible image. Therefore the conservation and restauration of daguerreotypes is very important. If a daguerreotype gets lost, it's lost forever.

The daguerreotype collection of the FotoMuseum consists of 183 pieces.

The Flemish Community endorsed the restoration project in function of the daguerreotype collection of the FotoMuseum Provincie Antwerpen in 2007.

The restoration/accessing project ran for the duration of two years and proposed the following general objectives:

1. Inventorying, conservation, and restoration of the daguerreotype collection of the    FotoMuseum Provincie Antwerpen in order to optimise and warrant accessing and preservation in the long term.
2. Exchange of expertise and information in the field of the historical daguerreotypes and restoration procedures.
3. Optimisation of our own registration systems, development and digital archiving of the used restoration databases.
4. Inputting of research-related data in the Daguerreobase international database.
5. Development, digital archiving, and quality control of the Daguerreobase website.
6. Connect with the wider heritage network through specific research in the area of     heritage conservation and management.

In the frame of this project, daguerreotypes from the Fotomuseum’s collection were included in the Daguerreobase.

Want to read more about daguerreotypes and their conservation? Download the folder of the FotoMuseum Antwerp.