The Daguerreotype: Contemporary work by Jonathan Danforth

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

Attentive readers to the journal will know about my affinity for the Clock of The Long Now project. Being a card-carrying member of the Long Now Foundation I am constantly thinking in the long-term. Art in the long term, therefore, is important to me.

Paleoanthropology is, sadly, imprecise when it comes to the lifestyle of ancient humans/hominids. All of our beliefs about the humanity of our distant ancestors is myth at worst and theory at best therefore it worries me what our 10,000 year descendants will think of us. And to think I was recently accused of caring too much what other people think about me…

But I digress.

I asked the venerable Dan Rutter of Dan’s Data a question about an ultra-long-term storage tank that I’d like to build for daguerreotypes.

Dan,

Suppose I wanted to maintain a vacuum in a standard bell-jar / vacuum plate setup for around 10 millenia (give or take) without interruption or maintenance? What, other than “comical,” would be my options?

These thoughts occur:

Short-term thinking would assume an electric vacuum pump but I’m assuming that is preposterous due to the mechanical degradation of the components. Powering the electric device bumps into the same hurdles: solar and wind are out due to mechanical degradation, right? What about radioactivity? Is there any reasonably sized undeadly hunk of radioactive ore that could be used to provide electric power to the pump while simultaneously requiring zero maintenance?

Maybe I could even use the heat from a radioactive source to more directly drive a steam pump in a sealed engine to maintain vacuum… thoughts?

I should mention that the vacuum is only for purposes of removing contaminants from the air (most specifically sulfur) so it doesn’t need to be very strong.

Thanks!
Jon

The reply, under the header of “This boy worries me” was this. (more…)

Time is cruel to memory. When memories fades with the generations it is only the corporeal remnants of memory that serve to remind us of events past. Photographs are the most easily accessible documentation of family history but often the photographs are unlabeled and thus contain no outright information about their subjects. Unlabeled photographs, however, are not entirely devoid of clues to their content. Enter Maureen Taylor - Photo Detective.

Using sociological analysis of clothing, hair style, accessories, and other contextual clues, plus a seemingly encyclopedic grasp of markings, stamps, and the like, Ms. Taylor has made quite the career out of her genealogical hobby.

I am willing to bet that Ms. Taylor wishes that her job, though enjoyable, didn’t have to exist. A lesson should be learned here: documentation. Daguerreotype, ambrotype, JPEG, or TIFF: document your photograph for future generations. Take some time to learn about archival methods of storage so that your twentieth-generation descendants can find value in your photographs.

Ms. Taylor: I’ll have you know that I struggled with the temptation of sending in one of my decidedly anachronistic daguerreotypes. Perhaps I’ll use a smidgen of subterfuge and submit one through an intermediary in order to tickle your funny bone.

I have been reading quite a lot about holograms lately. I intend to make a few holograms using a very straightforward method to see if it’s something I want to pursue with more gusto. Other than my near-primordial fascination with the prospect of playing with shiny beams of pure light, the holographic image interests me because it expands on the optical clarity of the daguerreotype. Daguerreotypes, as many of you know, have an ultra-fine resolution that can’t be rivaled by digital or film technology. Holograms are higher in resolution but offer another dimension due to a radically different recording method.

When finished, a holographic plate displays to the viewer an image that is the exact size of the subject. This aspect of holography is so real that highly accurate scientific measurements can be made from holographic images of objects. The limitation, my dear reader, is that the hologram cannot be enlarged - a property shared with my favorite 19th century cousin.

Often I tell collectors, gallery owners and media that one of my reasons for working with the daguerreotype is that I wanted to get the photograph “off the wall.” The daguerreotype invites close inspection and, like sculpture, it can be viewed from all angles, held, touched, and enjoyed on many sensory levels whereas a flat photograph cannot. That’s why the following quote from Laser Reflections (attributed to Ron and Bernadette Olson) is so poignant:

At a time when our visual senses are being assaulted on a grand scale by gigantic billboards and megavision screens – there is something both charming and ingratiating about an image that must be approached to be appreciated.

How true.

-Jonathan

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