The Daguerreotype and the Rhetoric of Photographic Technology

Abstract

Although many excellent histories of photography and its invention exist, few focus on the rhetoric employed in debates over scientific priority and the romantic construct of nature as the active agent in photographic processes. This article surveys the range and complexity of rhetorical claims made for the first practical photographic process, daguerreotypy. It presents a rereading of the standard and romanticized history of the invention, defines the daguerreotype as a made object and cultural artifact with its own supratextual rhetoric, and presents examples from the discourse of 1839-1860 that show how daguerreotypes were argued to be simultaneously equal to, superior to, and inferior to natural human perceptions and representations.

Exploration of Trends in Professional Profile Pictures

“…To develop a daguerreotype, the subject sat still for hours (Lerner, 2014). Applying a direct positive process on polished silver-plated copper with the use of iodine, light, and hot mercury, a highly detailed image was captured (Lerner, 2014;Smith, 2009;Wickliff, 1998). This type of photograph did not yield a negative, which meant copies could not be created (Shyamsundar, 2018).…”

“…The entire process to produce a daguerreotype was lengthy and onerous, while today's profile pictures are easily obtained. The images produced were printed on a tiny sheet, in sizes varying from 1.5 x 1.75 inches to 8.5 x 13 inches (Wickliff, 1998). Most were 2 x 3 inches (Keyes, 1976).…”

Exploration of Trends in Professional Profile Pictures

“…To develop a daguerreotype, the subject sat still for hours (Lerner, 2014). Applying a direct positive process on polished silver-plated copper with the use of iodine, light, and hot mercury, a highly detailed image was captured (Lerner, 2014;Smith, 2009;Wickliff, 1998). This type of photograph did not yield a negative, which meant copies could not be created (Shyamsundar, 2018).…”

“…The entire process to produce a daguerreotype was lengthy and onerous, while today's profile pictures are easily obtained. The images produced were printed on a tiny sheet, in sizes varying from 1.5 x 1.75 inches to 8.5 x 13 inches (Wickliff, 1998). Most were 2 x 3 inches (Keyes, 1976).…”

A Bibliography of Works Published in the History of Professional Communication from 1994–2009: Part 2

“…The early collaborative work was motivated by the desire to illustrate printed publications, to capture nature scenes, to create human portraits, and to investigate the nature of radiation. In "The Daguerreotype and the Rhetoric of Photographic Technology" (1998) [55], Wickliff examines the 19th-century arguments concerning the nature and rhetorical powers of this new technology. In "Toward a Photographic Rhetoric of Nineteenth-Century Scientific and Technical Texts" (1996) [56], Wickliff reads the photographs of various scientific texts from 19th-century America and Britain and evaluates them culturally and rhetorically to determine their truth claims.…”