Chasing Daguerrean eidothaumata

INTRODUCTION

The earliest recollection I have of an experience with an optical novelty is very vivid.

It must have occurred when I was five or six years old.

The experience was with an old-fashioned toy, commonly a feature of many a child's Easter experience.

I was presented with a large decorated egg.

It was made of a hard crystaline material and decorated with colored trim not unlike that found on cakes.

At one of its ends was a small, circular glass window which invited peeking through.

Inside the egg was a marvelous fairy landscape, comprised of a brightly colored garden with a narrow path which wound through a trellis, behind a cottage and over a hill into deeper, unseen spaces .

I recall my instant response to my parents.

"Can I eat it?"

The answer was,

"No!"

The negative response was a puzzlement to me as all the other eggs I was given were inteded to be consumed. "What is it made of?", I wanted to know.

"Sugar", I was told.

This compounded the confounding enigma of Strangely, I felt a far stronger desire to learn what was beyond the furthest hill than I did in the regular world in which I lived.

I felt very dreamy after long peeps into it.

I pondered over how the cut-outs got into the egg since they appeared much larger than the little opening I was looking through.

This mystery was solved sometime later when I dropped it by accident.

The egg split in two along a seam that had been masked by the cake-like squiggles of decoration.

The magic of the thing was dispersed forever with its physical destruction and the subsequent knowledge gleaned of its structural workings.

I played for a time with the little glass window which made things look big, but the holiday and the object soon passed on and both were forgotten for some time.

The memory rose to my mind during the latter labors of this thesis project when I was building and experimenting with viewing devices for the daguerreotypes I had produced.

As I now know that this form of optical novelty is termed a "peep egg".

The earliest ones extant are from the 1600s and are made of alabaster.

The most glorious form they took was in the jeweled and semi-precious stone constructions of Faberge, which were made for the Russian Imperial Court as Easter novelties.

The little round glass window that made things look big was a bi-convex lens, which both magnifies and distorts, thus creating a peculiar sensation of space.

The cut-out scenery derived from the illusionistic stage sets developed out of the discovery of the principles of perspective.

The winding path was a device meant to lead the eye and activate the spatial sensations.

The dreamy sensations I had were the results of synthesia.

The combination of these elements resulted in a truly metaphysical experience.

The aura of its magic, the fabric of the illusion, and the beauty of its poetry were very delicate, indeed; easily punctured by the pressure of knowledge.

Yet, this delicacy, this simpleness, was its strength, as well. My prior experiences with the process revealed the great advantage of having a regular and abundant source of light in some place that allowed for the setting up of the still-lifes I wished to work from. labor was lost in plate preparation while tuning in to the conditions through experimental exposures.

Simply, I intended to acquire an appliance which would aid me in production. The main guide I utilized in designing my own studio was have their attentions distracted from their work by defect of their appliances." 1 Taking the truth of these words to heart, I resolved to keep the construction as simple as possible so as not to be hampered by an overly complex and elaborate tool.

Sky

My home garage naturally suggested itself for conversion.

This structure was very rudimentarily constructed and was near collapsing under its own weight from want of maintenance.

My

requirements called for a northern exposure for the sky-light, as this is the most regular light.

By dividing the garage in half along the axis of the entry and enclosing the right-hand half, I obtained a space 8' X 18' which roughly approximated that of a 19th century travelling photographer's van.

(See Illustration #la, b,

).

I had worked in the reconstructed travelling van on display at the Eastman House and knew it to be a small but functional space.

All of these vans naturally had to have a form that followed function and a minimum scale to allow for easy transport.

I followed the general plan they exhibited, including an entrance at the end opposite the sky-light, a small window in the sidewall to illuminate the area where the camera stands, a large side-lighted window at the far end with the skylight immediately above it.

I began construction by removing and rebuilding the rear wall of the garage, which structurally was no longer supporting the weight of the roof. I then built the dividing wall and enclosed the front, installed a door and two side windows I had acquired in a used building parts store. Immediately above and parallel to this I cut an opening four feet wide by eight feet long in the roof. (The 19th century studios often had a crude home-like quality.

See Illustration #2).

The lack of finish is erased by the absolute transforming beauty of the light which it contains .

Goethe, in the introduction to his Theory of Colours, says,

The eye may be said to owe its existence to light, which calls forth, as it were, a sense that is akin to itself; the eye, in short, is formed in reference to light, to be fit for its action; the light it contains correspondingly with the light without.

2

My experience in the studio has made it clear that it would be appropriate to substitute the word From the apex of the sky-light I hung a 4' X 8'

sheet of white corrugated plastic, by which I could regulate and reflect the amount and direction of light which descended from it. At times I have sat for long periods transfixed with contempla ting the subtle beauties and contrasts of the applied light.

The studio gradually took on the aura of a temple to light and I became intensely aware of being a votary to it. I had chosen the "magic of to the magical nature of the daguerreotype and photography in general.

In the earliest days of the introduction of the invention, photography was viewed as a true marvel and wonder. In fact, it taxed "the bounds of sober belief" in many.

Many at first did not believe it to be a practical reality.

Gernsheim states of the first days of the daguerreotype that,

Parisians were suspicious of the mumbo jumbo that went on under the black cloth.

Daguerre was known as a skillful painter of illusions. of the daguerreotype's magical aura in 1912.

A Daguerreotype! -There it lies in its case among old papers, letters and curios.

A frail encasement of wood with black embossed paper.

We their pictorial weight and to evolve an imagery to be applied to daguerreotypes when work would be possible in the spring.

I had the notion of, perhaps, producing some of these images in stereo since the spatial illusions produced in this way also have magical qualities.

In addition, I began to experiment with this concept.

Immediately, During the time period spanning January through May, I made important progress in all three areas.

In the first area, that of research on the symbolism and unfortunate one, since it has more than one meaning attached to it.

The distinctions are clearly given by Francis King. There is the magic of stage illusionists, the the activities attendant to their production. It was only at the very end of the project that I obtained this realization.

However, during every part of the work I sensed its presence and unifying truth.

The imagery I was evolving in polaroid related more directly to the "magic" of the stage illusionist.

I utilized a frontal approach to the objects depicted. Many of these images I made in stereographic pairs.

During this production I kept in mind the necessity of My taste for its use goes back to my childhood.

When I was eight, my Father built a castle for my toy soldiers They all vibrate in harmony and in answer to the dictum "as above so below".

I felt intimately connected with these boxes. I had never before been so sensitive to the unity of all these structures and this perception strongly influenced my mood.

I would say now, by this stage, I was thoroughly entranced.

THIRD PHASE With May's warmth, I turned to the last stages of prepara tion for making daguerreotypes.

I made two sensitizing boxes, one for iodine and one for bromine.

This I followed with the construction of the mercury development box.

Once again, I was making chambers and I was alive with the implications. I decided upon a relatively small plate format of 2" X 2|"

for its economy of cost and polishing labor.

The small size I felt could be compensated for by the use of magnifying lenses in the viewers.

The transformation of the photographed objects into a miniature representation, created a world "in little" and in no way detracted from the magical quality. I thought that no more appropriate images could be made to start with than representations of the two great light sources of Nature, the Sun and the Moon. The Light versus Dark metaphor is basic to the philosophy of Western occult magic.

In one of the most important texts of that tradition, the Corpus Hermeticum, there is an account in the first treatise "The Divine Pymander", which clarifies the importance of this principle. During the month of July, I made fifty-three exposures, all more or less experimental.

Its

Some of these

exposures were non-pictorial, explorations of various color effects that can be produced on the daguerreotype plate by varying exposure and development.

Having daguerreotypes finally in hand, I moved to experi The viewer I began with was of the simplest construction.

It was no more than a box with an opening in one wall with a double convex lens mounted in it o King, Francis, Magic the Western Tradition, p. 8.

and an opening at the top to allow light to enter to illuminate the plate.

In certain lighting conditions, Agrigento, while the temple at Enginium, also in Sicily, was so celebrated for apparitions We all know that there is nothing supernatural about the production of the daguerreotype, but when the image is before us, few, if any, think of the science and apparatus which have gone into its making.

Any who have that knowledge, are no less apt to see the daguerreotpye as a true marvel of natural magic.

The series of viewing boxes I produced after the initial device I designed to partake of this aspect.

The odd shape of each of these black boxes is provoking to human Nowhere could I find it directly addressed. The word is derived from others meaning "going through an alley".

Although I knew what an alley was, I looked it up and was surprised to see that it could refer to any narrow path, such as that of a garden, not just a passage between buildings. It is derived from the Latin word "adno" which means "to swim towards". At first I was puzzled by this, but suddenly, I realized that "swimming" eloquently expressed the sensation I was having in looking into the viewing boxes. The space of any alley is peculiarly condensed and one feels the press of that space, very much as a swimmer feels the water, as it is parted in going through.

In looking into these boxes, I was travelling with my eye also through a condensed space, which gave me an oddly bouyant and floating sensation. Usually, this contradiction is overrided and ignored by our familiarity with the principles of the device's optical workings.

In devices not associated mentally with some rational scientific application, this overriding often is not so instantaneous.

Commonly the peculiar sense of contradiction and muscular strain is translated into a headache. to do. This is the magic by which such a simple, primitive toy can impress itself so deeply upon the mind of a child.

Under the inspiration of this revelation, I constructed a final viewer that allowed for the experiencing of this special This mirror reflected whatever was within the box.

I fitted up a number of panels with various geometric openings cut into them which could be positioned in different positions in slots as desired.

By illuminating a photograph place at the bottom of the box, the viewer perceives an illusion of a deep horizontal space with a floating image that moves and distorts as one changes the angle of sight.

The device allows for many different effects by the introduction of lenses in the interior, or mounted over the opening.

It even can be used as a projector to cast an image upon a veil or cloud of smoke.

There was no longer time left to proceed with this direc tion of experimentation.

The last production I made, at the The remaining time left was devoted to the writing of this report and preparation for a formal thesis sharing.

CONCLUSION

The necessity of bringing this project to an end within the space of a year has brought me short of the stated goal of my thesis 1 was led to my involvement with the daguerreotype through an in terest in the use of mechanical drawing aids in 19th century art.

Obviously, in searching out information on the camera obscura, I was led to the work of Niepce and Daguerre. With my already ex isting interest in 19th century .art and culture, the early history of photography proved a fascinating subject of study.

When I encountered my first daguerreotype in a New York antique shop, I was already informed enough to recognize it for what it was.

I was quite captivated by the charm and elegance of the encased photograph, but also totally astonished by the quality of the image.

The subject was a simple, straight-forward portrait of a man, of no special beauty or interest in itself. However, the acute definition, the range and delicacy of the tones, the opalescent brilliance and preciousness of the daguerreotype surface, all conspired to conjure- up the absolutely palpable illusion of this man's presence. I was un prepared to meet both the man, long vanished from the earth, and the powerful magic of the daguerreotype.

No amount of verbal description and poetic simile can adequately convey the daguerreotype's quality. A magazine reproduction, no matter how fine in quality, can be no more than a ghost of the origi nal. The actual unique daguerreotype must be experienced to know its nature. It conveys something far beyond its pictorial content, in a language of its own, which strikes the common cords of life.

Thus, out of a direct experience with a 19th century daguerreotype, began a curiosity about the process which yielded such a special ob ject. The curiosity turned into a desire to work the process. Re search into that possibility proved dismaying. Detailed working in structions were difficult to come by. Plates and equipment were commercially unavailable and therefore needed to be fabricated.

Worse yet, the chemicals used in the process, iodine, bromine and mercury, were hazardous in the extreme, requiring special safety equipment and procedure. Expense of time and money was one thing, expense in terms of health and perhaps even life, was an other. Without help and advice,. I felt unqualified to attempt the process. Therefore, I had to content myself with collecting and studying its history. As time passed, my knowledge and interest grew; while the desire to make daguerreotypes grew stronger. I resolved to pursue an in tensive study of the daguerreotype. I entered the graduate pro gramme at Rochester Institute of Technology, which allowed for an internship at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House. The Eastman House collection is particularly rich in daguerreotype material and the internship allowed for privileged access to that material. I was extremely fortunate to have, in addi tion to the informational access at IMP/GEH, the shining example and help of an expert modern daguerreotypist, Mr. Irving Pobbo- ravsky. Ever since the process passed out of fashion in the late 1850's, there have been individuals who have kept the process alive.

Whatever the intended purpose of such individuals in doing so, they all responded to the daguerreotype's special qualities which distin guish it from all other forms of photography. Of the modem work ers of the process, Mr. Pobboravsky has the most extensrv experi ence and has produced a body of work which stands favorable com parison with the finest 19th century product. With his guidance I began preparation* Co attempt the process.

Very much as the first American experimenters of 1839, 1 scroung ed materials, improvised equipment and began experimenting in a home-made laboratory. It was at this stage that I began to become Continued on page 9 BMB Daguerreotype Continued from page 4 aware of the indescribable spirit of the craft, which soon enveloped me. It demanded discipline, fortitude, labor, patience, perseverance, versatility and a peculiar form of inventiveness. Yet it yielded in re turn real thrills, rare insights and hidden pleasures at every stage of progress. Soon I had my first image, a mere silhouette of building against the sky produced upon a piece of silver leaf adhered to a sheet of glass. Though hardly anything to cause excitement in an other, to me it was a triumph and a supreme delight With its reali zation I felt true communion and brotherhood with the first photog raphers.

From that point I have progressed far in the last two years of work, some of the results of which are illustrated here. It is in the doing of the process that I gain the greatest pleasure and reward. The re sulting image is almost a secondary concern. It is an exploration of the process which involves me, not the production of an aestheti cally sound body of photographs. Perhaps some day I will concen trate on applying the evolving thoughts and sensibilities gained from that exploration, on a more conscious and deliberate level, in my imagery. I almost feel that it would be presumptions to do so at my present state of development For now my imagery is no more than the primitive work of ah amateur experimenter. But beyond the subject and composition of these daguerreotypes, that part of them which is of the daguerreotype, that is something which de lights my soul, and for me they are prescious treasures.

There is great satisfaction in achieving even such modest results in so difficult a craft I have gained perceptions and sensibilities which have enhanced my understanding and enjoyment of the medium.

The magical appeal of the daguerreotype is uniquely photographic and the daguerreotype is unique in photography. Through this work the marvel that is photography is kept ever fresh and alive in this world of marvels made mundane.

Daguerre's original process entailed sensitizing a thin layer of me tallic silver on a copper support with the fumes of iodine crystals. Silver iodide was formed which is a light sensitive compound. After camera exposure, the latent image was developed with the fumes of heated mercury. The plate was then fixed by dissolving the light sensitive layer of silver iodide in a solution of salt and water. The resulting image was thus formed of a thin veil of mercury droplets forming an amalgam with the silver. In the proper lighting and with the proper angle of viewing the image appeared positive by a com bination of the polished plate reflecting a dark surface and the light being refracted and scattered by the negative mercury image, form ing the light tones of the image. In effect what you have is a poin- tillist image in white on a black surface.

This original process was greatly improved and modified by others. While keeping the essential principle of the original process, many different techniques were evolved. In effect, there is no one way to make a daguerreotype. Rarely, if ever, did two daguerreotypists proceed exactly alike in their working method.

Many modem day workers with the daguerreotype have aimed at producing images with the characteristics of the 19th century prod uct being entranced not only with its beauties but also its historical mystique. For various reasons, my own goal has been to explore the various alternate techniques and image qualities which the process allows. The photographic aesthetics of the 19th century did not ac knowledge and value the wide range of image characters that our age is prepared to recognize. The 19th century practice of the da guerreotype was largely influenced by commercial concerns. There II by Grant B. Romer is no such concern today in working the process and we ask many different things of photography than did our predecessors. ->

The daguerreotype presents many unexplored possibilities. By the use of other materials, sensitizers, developers and toners an amaz ing variety of image qualities can be realized. By its nature it also lends itself to physical manipulations, such as selective sensitizing and development, erasure, re-exposure and hand colouring. To modem tastes, there are few photographic processes which offer so undeveloped and promising a medium as this.

There are many purists who shudder at the thought of modem da guerreotypes. They are largely shunned by collectors and few look at them seriously. The rewards of working the process are purely in the craft .

The methods used in making some of the illustrated images are sig nificantly different than the standard technique of the 19th century.

The one method I have chosen to describe, that of Becquerel devel opment, has a great advantage in that does away with the use of mercury, reducing the risk of poisoning and simplifying the process immensely.

In 1841 Edmond Becquerel discovered that an iodized daguerreo type plate could be developed by the action of light alone. By sub jecting the plate after camera exposure to an exposure of sunlight through a red, orange or yellow filter, an image was gradually form ed which closely resembled a mercury developed image. In addition, exposure times were greatly reduced. M. A. Gaudin achieved an exposure of '/is of a second in 1841 by its use. The yielded image is characterized by a distinctive overall hue, ranging from yellowish green to purplish blue, depending on variences of sensitization and exposure. Although, it offered distinct advantages, the strong col ouration interefered with its acceptance. It never found wide use and was forgotten quickly way before the daguerreotype passed out of fashion.

Before proceeding in the description, it is necessary to stress that iodine is a noxious, caustic and poisonous substance, and should be handled and stored properly. The other chemicals applicable to the daguerreotype process in its many forms, bromine, chlorine, mer cury, nitric and hydrochloric acid, are even more dangerous. One should employ constant caution in their use and storage. Workers in the 19th century gave very little heed to the deleterious effect of these chemicals, and many of them succumbed. Acquaint yourself fully with the nature of these substances and the proper safety equipment and procedure required for. their safe employ, if you think you would like to try the process.

Procedure for Producing a Daguerreotype by Becquerel Development 1. Polishing the plate A copper plate that has been electroplated with a thin layer of silver of approximately 0.01 mm in thickness is the most easily fabricated daguerreotype plate. The surface of the plate must be thoroughly clean and free of all imperfections. It is necessary to polish the plate to a high mirror state, as free of scratches as possible. This is done by the use of abrasives commonly used in jewelry polishing, used in a succession of every finer grades. Continued on page 17 III Continued from page 9

2.: Sensitizing the plate Immediately after the final stage of polishing the plate is exposed to the fumes of iodine crystals. This is done by the use of a box that effectively contains the rising fumes from the crystals at the bot tom, while allowing for the introduction and removal of the plate by means of a slide. As the iodine rises to the surface of the silvered plate, silver iodide is formed. The plate gradually changes colour as the iodide layer increases in thickness. I find the cherry red colour to be the best for my purposes. This operation is conducted under ired or yellow safelight }. Camera exposure Any. camera can be used that will accommodate a daguerreotype plate. There are many variables to take into consideration when making an exposure such as time of day, season, latitude, lens, plate size, etc. Trial and error under a controlled system is the best teacher. I usually tune into the conditions of the day with a series of trial exposures. An iodized plate has a 'speed of about ASA 0.0004 using mercury development. With Becquerel development the ASA is in the area of ASA 0.03.

Development

Prior to exposure in the camera, the iodized daguerreotype plate is sensitive to blue and ultra-violet light alone. After camera exposure to white light, it is also sensitive to red, orange and yellow light which cause fine crystals of silver to form out of the iodide layer.

While still in the plate holder, I attach a yellow, transparent filter te the outside and draw the darkslide. I usually expose the plate under the filter to sunlight but artificial light can be used as well. The image will gradually appear, highlights first within the first fifteen seconds. Development is continued until no further action is appar ent, usually after two minutes of exposure.

tixing

A weak solution of table salt and water is prepared. The plate is placed face up in the solution and touched at the corner with a zinc or aluminum rod. The iodide layer will gradually clear from the plate from the point of contact The rod should be held in place un til the entire coloured layer of silver iodide disappears. This novel method of fixing by galvanizing, is rather amazing to witness. The plate could be fixed with hypo (without the hardener), but often image fading is encountered. The above method minimizes this.

1

excite

and sublime philosophy, once taught in the Greater Mysteries of Egypt, Chaldea, Persia and India. This knowledge was taught b King, Francis, Magic, the Western Tradition, Avon Publish ers, New York, 1975, p. 8.