Mathew Brady - Master Of The Daguerreotype

General Tom Thumb

Although Mathew Brady is most remembered today for his images of the American Civil War, his first fame came as the master of the Daguerreotype, the first practical form of photography. He learned of his passion for the art of photography while working at a portrait studio in New York City as a youth. Samuel Morse befriended Brady and introduced him to a number of talented artists at that time. In the early 1840's, Brady, with the help of his artist friends, opened his own studio and quickly became the photographer of choice. In his career, Brady photographed 18 of the 19 U.S. presidents from John Quincy Adams to William McKinley, General Tom Thumb, and any number of prominent world citizens.


Developed by Louis Daguerre with inspirational help from printer Joseph Nicephore Niepce, the Daguerreotype is an image that is recorded using a process involving a silver lined copper plate, salt water, a glass filtered box, sunlight, and about 10 minutes.

Boulevard du Temple

Because the process takes so long to expose, the first photograph of a person was taken totally by accident. In the 1837 photo of Boulevard du Temple, Daguerre captured the image of a man only because the man stood still long enough to get his shoes shined. The process can only produce an original. No negatives were available until the 1850's when the Wet Plate Method was introduced. Daguerre, being a renowned theatrical designer and inventor of the diorama was looking to improve his dioramas when he partnered with Niepce, who was trying to improve the printing process when the Daguerreotype was stumbled upon.

Brady took the process to great heights and notoriety. His artistic eye was beyond compare as he posed his subjects in ways that told a story. Here was a man who actually became famous twice in his life, then slid into obscurity because his great vision was one that society was too ashamed to look at.




Read more about the discarded artist at This Lens