Friday, April 3, 2009

Dana's Daguerreotype Response

We began the day shivering through a presentation about our instructor's search for historic daguerreotypes around Philadelphia. Though I was freezing, the presentation inspired me to want to go out and search these collections myself. The daguerreotype is beautiful and I wanted to see more of them. Even my underexposed little image was beautiful and special to me.
I will always remember the crazy contraptions that Takashi had built - the iodine box, the mercury box, and even the ventilation box built just for this process. Also, I will remember Takashi's patience and sense of humor throughout the long, sometimes frustrating process. Sitting still for so long was the hardest part!
In the end, though my image was less than perfect, my first (and perhaps only) daguerreotype is a special object that for me holds within it the magic of the process, the weight of its history, and the memory of this once in a lifetime experience.

1 comment:

  1. Great! I particularly love the last paragraph. That really encapsulates my feelings as well.

    Now that you read it over, do you want to add something about what you saw in their presentation (you can use their names: Tsuyoshi Ito and Takashi Arai) and also what you saw when we followed some of their trail?

    Little details: First para:Even my underexposed little image was beautiful and special to me. - might save that sentence for last para. 2nd para: Sitting still for so long was the hardest part! - let them know why you had to sit still so long.

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