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white on a dark background. Nevertheless Niépce wrote,
underlining his faith in his research that, “something
could be changed in the way of arranging colors.” Using
the camera obscura, he made in his text a direct parallel
with engraving and painting and even used the word
“picture” [tableau] to characterize his fi rst trial. After
many tests made between 1816 and 1824 he obtained
on metal and stone the fi rst images from his house’s
window, which he called héliographies (The View from
Le Gras Window, 1827, Austin, University of Texas).
Jacques Louis Mandé Daguerre heard, possibly from
the optician Chevalier, of Niépce’s trials. Daguerre, a
skillful stage designer, and successful inventor of the
diorama, had been trying for some years to stabilize
images that became visible within the camera obscura.
Perhaps because of the many differences between them,
they didn’t work cooperatively earlier with each other
as Niépce thought Daguerre suspicious, however the
two men began a venture in 1827. Unlike Niépce who
was in search for reproducibility and whose model was
engraving, Daguerre was keen to achieve precision
and clarity. The quest for a precise print remained his
motto after Niépce’s death in 1833; he conducted their
fi rst researches alone at fi rst, and then after 1836 with
the young architect Eugène Hubert. Daguerre’s work
remained quite hidden despite rumors within artistic
circles.
In 1838, he sought support for his new invention
and started to show his fi rst images made on silvered
copper plates made sensitive to light after exposed to
iodine salts. Daguerre called these images “daguerreo-
types.” He quickly gained the support of François
Arago, a physicist, and member of the French Academy
of Science and delegate to the Chamber of Deputies.
Daguerre’s prints raised Arago’s enthusiasm, saying
“Mister Daguerre’s invention offers a great interest for
its newness, its artistic usefulness, the rapidity of its
execution and for its valuable resources that will soon
be borrowed by science (...)” (François Arago, Report
to the French Chamber of Deputies, July, the 3rd, 1839).
Arago’s fi rst announcement of daguerréotype at the
French Academy of Science the 7th of January 1839
remains the offi cial birthdate of photography in France
as in the rest of the world. By revealing his discovery
on this day, he preceded England’s William Fox Talbot
who was carrying on his own experiments on paper.
Nevertheless such an announcement within the
scientifi c circle had long lasting effects on France’s
photographic reception. Even though some months
later (the 19th of August 1839) Arago made a thor-
ough presentation of daguerreotype in front of the two
French Academies—one of Science and the other of
Fine Arts—the latter maintained some distrust toward
photography.
Despite Daguerre himself belonging to mainly just
artistic circles and Niépce to none, daguerreotypes and
later negative/positive photography were considered
scientific inventions, both under political, psycho-
logical and aesthetic matters. It had been disclosed by a
physicist that Arago and Daguerre simplifi ed Daguerre’s
process as much as possible for other users and in doing
so reduced the operator’s involvement. “Images came
by themselves in the camera obscura” wrote Daguerre
in 1838. Such a statement could not have been worse
in a society where artistic achievement was based
upon the artist’s mind and not his hand. Photography
had become almost mechanical. Last but not least the
precision of the daguerreotype eliminated the need forFRANCE
Le Gray, Gustave and Auguste Mestral.
The Ramparts of Carcassonne.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Gilman Collection, Purchase,
Harriette and Noel Levine Gift,
2005 (2005.100.34) Image © The
Metropolitan Museum of Art.