The Daguerreotype: Contemporary work by Jonathan Danforth

I am a big fan of Neighborhoodies.  I own a handful of their ready-made shirts including “I Choo-Choo-Choose You”, and “Helvetica”.  I used their design-a-shirt tool to make this specimen on the left.  MAN I love the Internet.

Neighborhoodies has a metallic silver ink that was too good to pass up for M. Daguerre’s visage.

I believe that this is the only Daguerre-themed t-shirt in existence.  I also claim to have coined the phrase daguerreoshirt. 

The first person (that I don’t KNOW, ALAN!) to stop me on the street that “gets” it will receive a hug and a free 4×5″ cased daguerreotype.

Special thanks to Jeremy Moore for helping with the outline!

Iodine is critical to photography.  Like the other halogens, Iodine forms a light-reactive salt when exposed to silver called Silver Iodide.  Expose the Silver Iodide to light and PRESTO! it turns black.  Cool, huh?  This reaction is so critical to photography and to daguerreotypes in particular that I made the molecule my logo.

One of the thing’s that’s so awesome about Iodine is that it is one of a fairly small group of subliming elements.  Sublimation is the process by which a compound transitions from solid to gas without first taking a little time out to be a liquid.  They just want to jump the gun and get right to work.

In daguerreotypy we rely on the gaseous Iodine to float up and react with the polished silver on our plates to form that oh-so-delicious useful silver salt.  If your daguerreotype manufacturing building (shed?) is poorly heated, like mine, then the winter makes it really annoying to make daguerreotypes.  In the Summer when it hovers around 85 in my studio I might sensitize a plate over Iodine for 30 seconds.  The same plate in the Winter requires five or more minutes.

Crystal Iodine is, in the USA, a List 1 restricted compound.  The “controlled substance” they mention is methamphetamine (that should generate some unwanted Google hits).  Meth, by the way, is something you DON’T want to use OR make.

The term List I chemical means a chemical specifically designated by the Administrator in Sec. 1310.02(a) of this chapter that, in addition to legitimate uses, is used in manufacturing a controlled substance in violation of the Act and is important to the manufacture of a controlled substance.

(source)

What that means is that you have to fill out a big scary form and make the Drug Enforcement Agency aware of your intentions for using the stuff in order to buy it.  If you’d rather not get on a DEA list or if you live in a more sane country, Here’s how to extract your own Iodine from common household items.

Don’t get too comfortable yet.  Iodine is dangerous stuff.  Here’s the MSDS safety sheet.  In addition to corroding the hell out of almost every metal it comes in contact with it will cause all number of problems with your interior bits.  Use ventilation!  It’s also generally a good idea to wear a mask that has received a NIOSH rating to handle Chlorine gas.

If you’re making something to hold Iodine then I can suggest wood.  Metals are almost universally hopeless but there are exceptions.  Titanium would be a good choice for hardware in a sensitizing box.

Thank you to everyone that has e-mailed with questions, comments, etc. over the past year.  I love hearing from you and answering you questions.  A few weeks ago I met with a local student who is making daguerreotypes.  She and I practiced copper polishing and shared some tips.  This is exactly the kind of interaction that I thrive on.  My friend Kaden calls it “spreading your knowledge” and encourages me to do so whenever he can.

This year has been a good one for spreading my knowledge and for learning new information.  I have had daguerreotype students, been an adviser on two college papers, and taught the finer points of destroying daguerreotypes to my own teacher.  I can’t count the number of e-mails I’ve answered regarding the daguerreotype process… I’m overjoyed that some of those people have even made their own daguerreotypes too.

The highlight of my year was returning to London to attend the opening of Mat Collishaw’s “Shooting Stars” at Haunch of Venison London.  Mat is an artist with acute talent and it has been and remains an honour (that spelling’s for you, Mat!) collaborating with him on his two projects: “Shooting Stars” and “Deliverance“.

While in London I was able also to share a few pints with Brenton West, “Dr. Dag.”  We had a great time at his gallery opening despite the torrential rain and I enjoyed benefiting from his tremendous knowledge on silversmithing and daguerreotypie alike.

Another London artist taught me some valuable lessons this year.  Tom Leighton and I worked on some daguerreotypes of his images but my poor planning really made the project fall apart.  I thank Tom for his patience and understanding.  The images that did come out looked very good and I’m honored to have worked with him.

I was very privileged to work with an artist for whom I’m not sure I’m allowed to name on some unique square-format daguerreotypes for his “Old Haunts” series.  This was a delightful process and I hope to continue the relationship in 2009!

The inimitable Dean Snyder and I collaborated on a daguerreotype for his “Almost Blue” project at the Tang Museum.  What a joy that was!

I made daguerreotypes this year for half a dozen newlyweds.  These are my favorites… keep ‘em coming, they make great gifts!

For the first time I attended the Daguerreian Society Symposium.  This event was a tremendous pleasure.  I was privileged to meet about two dozen people that I have collaborated with, taught, advised, and begged advice of over the past five years.  Washington, DC was close enough that I was able to drive and, therefore, bring my wife and son for a little vacation.  I will definitely attend next year’s symposium if only to visit with my charished daguerreian friends.

Speaking of daguerreian friends, 2008 saw the opening of several brand new resources for daguerreotypists and collectors both.  Back in June I declared 2008 to be “The Year of the Daguerreotype.”  The chatter on daguerreotypes escalated this year to a point that I doubt the subject has seen since 1840.  Alan Bekhuis created a terrific resource on artists, equipment, process, etc. and Jon Lewis created a fantastic discussion forum.

We saw the launch of a new blog by the upcoming daguerreotypist Andy Stockton.  The Daguerreotypist blog is a well-written account of one man’s determination (and suffering!) in the process of becoming a daguerreotypist.  His writing has been a tremendous boon to the online daguerreotypist culture.

The show at Through This Lens in Durham, NC was well received and I’m encouraged.

I look forward to an exciting 2009 full of new art and new challenges.

-Jonathan

I have had the opportunity recently to purposefully “age” some daguerreotypes for a client.  I will elaborate more on this process in the future but I’d like to share some related information about daguerreotype protection.  The surface of a daguerreotype is very fragile as you can see in my video “How to Destroy a Daguerreotype.”

Protection from physical danger is essential but it’s only half the battle.  Chemical corrosion is also an enemy.  Protection from airborne chemical contaminants is very important for the longevity of the image.  You need to seal off the daguerreotype from (more…)

My workshop is a glorified toolshed in my backyard.  I love it very much but it is not without its shortcomings.  When I bought the workshop I had to install power, lights, a floor, shelves, storage air conditioner, fume hood, dark “room”,  etc.  One of the worst problems with the workshop is the lack of environmental control due to it being, well, an uninsulated toolshed.

I live in North Carolina and let me tell you that the summers hear are murder.  If it isn’t hot, it’s humid.  Often it’s both.  The current temperature of my workshop as I write this is 84F.  I’m unsure of the humidity but my shirt is decidedly moist.

One of the big problems with humidty other than discomfort is the danger of contamination of my materials.  Did you mom ever make you polish the silver?  Well let me tell you that the black stuff you worked so hard to remove is caused by sulfur contamination… and the air is full of it (among other things).  Silver is not alone in its susceptibility to corrosion… copper, brass, and countless other materials are ill-suited to storage in my workshop.

I made the mistake of storing some freshly (and exhaustingly) polished copper plates in the workshop for a few days.  After polishing (more…)