Louis Daguerre | The Artist's Studio

I have talked a bit about Daguerre and his photographic methods in a previous episode about the world’s first photobomb. Listeners may recall that the first photograph to feature a human happened by accident as Daguerre was taking a photograph of the view out his window. Those early photographs needed a long exposure. I’m talking around 15 minutes and few subjects could sit still for that long. This is why the first subjects of photos tended to be landscapes or still lives, you know, things that will be still for a long time. The plaster casts were a practical subject. They were also intended to send a message that photography was a new medium but it could handle the traditional subject matter. In this collection, we see an arrangement of casts of Venus, cupid, the wings, and heads of two cherubs. Above the cherub or putti heads which would have been associated with Phaethon son of Helios, we see the rams head, and the golden Ram in Greek mythology was a descendant of Helios, the sun god. Central to the composition, we see these references to Greek mythology making a connection between the new medium and classic subjects but more specifically, we are seeing references to the sun. When we break down photography, photo means light. Graphy is writing, The photographic process is making a picture with light. The sunlight triggers a chemical reaction causing silver compounds to darken.

If you want to learn more about Daguerre and early photography, listen to my previous mini-episode about The World's First Photobomb.

This week's Friday Follow recommendation is Art Ed Radio from The Art of Education University. This segment is not paid promotion. I simply want to share some of the things that I love. If you have a recommendation for something good I should check out, email me or reach out on social media.

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