The Daguerreotype: Contemporary work by Jonathan Danforth

I posted this video as part of my Instructables.com post a couple of months back. I thought that you might enjoy taking a look. I overexposed the image so I decided to make an example of this plate. You can see that the Daguerreotype image is made up of a very fine dusty powder on the silver surface. What’s interesting is that there remains a ghost-like blue image on the silver that can only be buffed out.  This is precisely why you must put a Daguerreotype behind glass!

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I saw this little gem over at Luxist, one of my regular haunts. This is the sort of radical idea that needs to swiftly move from prototype to reality. Though the consumer-base is likely small, the attention to detail in such a piece makes it a very desirable camera to own.

Further, I don’t think that this would be a very difficult hack to acheive for just about any pocket digital camera. True, you’re not likely to be able to replicate Olympus’ “three dimensional compression of the wood” but you could get pretty close with some clever veneering or hand carving.

I can easily see why some fellow photographers opt to pay the premium for the Deardorf and Wista wooden cameras for their asthetic beauty and durability. Kudos, Olympus.

More information at Gizmodo after the jump.

Both a collector and an authority on the preservation of Daguerreotypes, Dennis Waters will be giving a presentation at the Saco Museum in Saco, Maine on 9/30/2006 with the assistance of his son, Casey. Dennis operates finedags.com and offers restoration services.

If you’re in the area, I suggest going in for the presentation. Directions and times after the jump.

-Jonathan

9-12-2006

I’m on the fence about attending this year’s Daguerreian Symposium.

I’m very interested in meeting those of you that I’ve talked to over the time that this website has been up and running but as I’ve said before, I’m not particularly interested in the history of Daguerreotypie and the financial obligation is higher than I’m comfortable with at the moment what with my recent purchases.

My friend Jerry has finally released his book! Buy it by clicking this big link, it’s a bargain!

-Jonathan

9-8-2006

A Frenchman has my tripods. Georges Rousse, french trompe l’ oeil artist extraordinnairre is in Durham this month at the solicitation of my friend Frank Konhaus. Frank and his wife Ellen summoned M. Rousse to Durham to install four “Warehouse Interventions”. I foolishly volunteered (more…)