Introduction

The goal of this exercise is to use archival photographs to illustrate that photography is a changing technology. I myself have seen a very dramatic change in the technology of photography. When I went to college in the 1970s, serious photography was black and white and printed in a darkroom. My students have only a vague notion of film and most have never seen a slide. Many of them shoot dozens of photos everyday with their phones and post to Facebook, Instagram, etc. Some of my students have no idea why someone might want a stand-alone camera. I want them to understand that the technologies and the uses for photographic imagery have been different in the past and will continue to grow and change.

In this exercise, students compare three photo formats: daguerreotypes, lantern slides, and silver-gelatin prints. Being able to handle the original photographs teaches students a lot about photographic technologies. Daguerreotypes are processed on a reflective surface which can be hard to reproduce. In the archives, students are able to tilt a daguerreotype to see the reflection and to open the small cases which enclose them. Lantern slides are made of fragile glass, and students can view these on a light box in the reading room.

I had not predicted how the setting of the Othmer Library at Brooklyn Historical Society would enrich this exercise. From where students stand when they are handling the daguerreotypes, they can also see several painted portraits. One of these is of Sarah Rierson Middagh by Jefferson Gaunt (1806-1864). It was painted in 1838, one year before the first daguerreotype was made. It is very clear how much the early daguerreotypists took from the earlier medium when you can see them both at the same time. Both portrait media share the formal pose, the blank expression, and the gold frame. Students came away with a sense of how different photography was in its infancy and also how a new medium is at first defined by what came before.

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Students should be able to:

• Identify and distinguish the varying methods that have been used to create photographs
• Articulate a working knowledge of the technical and historical developments that have influenced photography and that will continue to change it in the future

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[expand title=”Context” tag=”h3″]Before visiting the archives, students watch and have an informal class discussion about Early Photography: Making Daguerreotypes produced by the Getty Museum.[/expand]

[expand title=”Visit” tag=”h3″]Number of Visits: 1
Duration of Visit: 50 minutes

Agenda

Students stand in pairs at a waist-level counter to examine three different photographic formats: a daguerreotype, a lantern slide, and a silver-gelatin print. Each station is equipped with white cotton gloves. Learn more about care and handling policies here.

Each student is required to turn in written responses to the in-archives handout. Students are asked to write a short description of each photograph as an artifact before they describe the image depicted. By the end of the activity, students are asked to synthesize their observations and to compare and contrast the experience of viewing each of these formats.

Wrap Up

Students reconvene for a brief, informal class discussion to share individual observations with the group.[/expand]

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Class Blog

After the archives visit, students complete a follow up assignment on our course blog. I ask students to compare the daguerreotype they examined in person with a digital photograph that they have taken themselves.

Blog Prompt: Write a post of at least 200 words comparing the daguerreotype that you handled today at the Brooklyn Historical Society and any digital photograph that you have taken this semester. How does the format change the experience of both taking and viewing photographs?

This pushes students to evaluate their observations and it encourages open-ended responses.
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