Portrait of a Man and a Portrait of a Woman, anonymous, c. 1850 - c. 1859

daguerreotype, h 94mm × w 167mm × d 10mm More details

To make a daguerreotype, a copperplate, coated with silver, was polished and sensitized to light with iodine vapour. The plate was placed in the camera and exposed for 30–90 seconds. It was then removed from the camera in the dark and placed above a heated mercury bath. As the mercury vapour reacted with the plate’s surface, an image appeared, which was subsequently fixed.