New Contemporary Daguerreotype: “Yesterday’s Technology”

Posted in Artist's Journal, Daguerreotypes, Philosophy, Photography by Jonathan on the June 11th, 2007

I made this whole-plate (6.5×8.5″) daguerreotype yesterday. I’ve been planning to make this image for quite a while and I’m rather pleased with the result. Titled “Yesterday’s Technology,” I made it to show (with just a tinge of irony) the juxtaposition of the lifespan of technology from the 19th century to the 21st century.

The subject is an inverted CPU microprocessor that has been placed on its motherboard. The technology in the subject had such a short lifespan: three to five years at the most while the technology used to photograph the subject is 168 years old.

Our technology is fleeting. We build on our successes by developing faster, stronger, and more powerful pieces of equipment but it’s important to remember that, just as with forefathers, technological predecessors merit a great deal of respect for the lessons they can teach. Humankind forgets a great deal after a few generations of technology have evolved and this is a dangerous course of action.

I realize that demonstrating this idea using the daguerreotype process is a bit of a MacGuffin (if not a an all-out slap in the face) but the daguerreotype medium for me is first and foremost a superior imaging technology to anything I’ve yet tried.
Jonathan

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