Daguerreotype

A daguerreotype is an early photographic process created in the 1830s that produces a detailed image on a polished silver-coated copper plate. The process involves exposing the plate to light in a camera, then developing the image using mercury vapor, which captures fine details and produces a mirror-like result. Daguerreotypes were popular because they offered clearer images than early methods, but they are unique, non-reproducible images—meaning each one is a one-of-a-kind photograph. They played a significant role in the history of photography as a pioneering technique for capturing realistic images.