Aroostook County
Historical & Art Museum
of Houlton
Tintypes & Daguerreotypes
Tintypes
A tintype, also known as a ferrotype, is a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of metal coated with a dark lacquer or enamel and used as the support for the photographic emulsion. Tintypes images will always be a reverse image
Daguerreotype
The daguerreotype was made using a highly polished sheet of silver-plated copper to a mirror finish then treated with chemical fumes to make it light sensitive. It was then exposed in the camera for as long as necessary. It would be taken out and treated with mercury vapor, set it with a chemical treatment, rinsed and dried. Then sealed behind glass since the image was easily damaged, often in small protective cases.
Louis Daguerre
A French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography.
He became known as one of the fathers of photography.
Though he is most famous for his contributions to photography, he was also an accomplished painter and a developer of the diorama theatre.
Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre
Collins Whitaker, Houlton 1857
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
