Daguerre, Jacques Louis

1995/08/02 Azkune Mendia, Iñaki - Elhuyar Fundazioa | Kaltzada, Pili - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Biografiak

(1789-1861)

French artist of Basque name born in Cormeilles (near Le Havre) on 18 November 1789.

Painter by profession and in charge of performing theater stage decorations. It obtained optical effects called dioramas, placing real objects in the decorations. Then he replaced real objects with others and thus the different effects were obtained.

In the field of optical effects, the "dark chamber" was an interesting discovery. The rays of the sun penetrated into the interior of the chamber through a small hole and on an interior screen the exterior image was clearly marked. In 1822, Mr. Joseph Nicephore Niepce obtained a permanent image inside the chamber, but it only took eight hours in the exhibition. Daguerre met with Niepce and tried to improve the system. He started using copper plates with silver salts. This system allowed an exhibition of between 20 and 30 minutes. The area affected by the light darkened as the gloom persisted. The unaltered salts were diluted in sodium trioxide (VI) and obtained a lasting image: the daguerrotype.

The daguerreotype was not a very fast system, but the idea of a picture painted with exact sunlight without defects immediately gained strength.

Around 1840 this method was used for the photography of the stars of the sky (for example, Secchi) and from then on the daguerreotype had many applications in astronomy.

According to people, Daguerre is the inventor of photography, but the problem is not so clear, because little by little there were many people who participated in this invention. W. The English talbot, for example, was one of the most important.

Over time they improved the Daguerre system, but for half a century they were only a few photographers with chemical ability. When George Eastman patented the film in 1884, photography has spread to millions of people.

However, Daguer took the first steps of photography. The famous Basque denominated Daguerre died in Bry-sur-Marne near Paris on July 0, 1851.