Daguerreotypes (1839-1860)

• First modern photographic process introduced in 1839 by Louis J.M Daguerre
• Image created on silver-plated sheet of copper
• Image usually covered by thin layer of glass to protect and seal the copper plate
• Has the appearance of a mirror
• Like a hologram, image appears to shift from positive to negative
• Process was expensive and time-consuming
• Lost popularity on eve of Civil War
• Daguerreotypes of Confederate soldiers in uniform are extremely rare

Unidentified Woman No. 18
Gary-Gilliam Family Collection
Ninth-plate Daguerreotype with hand-coloring
Photographed by James P. Weston, New York City, New York
RG2.FIC2009.00186

Ambrotypes (1851-1870s)

• Introduced to America from England
• Process was patented and popularized by Bostonian James Ambrose Cutting in 1854
• Image is a negative on glass with dark backing to produce positive image
• Distinguishable from a daguerreotype because image does not seem to shift from positive to negative
• Cheaper than daguerreotypes
• Enjoyed height of its popularity in America during Civil War years

Pvt. Benjamin Thomas Long
2nd Co. H, 40th North Carolina Regiment (3rd North Carolina Artillery)
Sixth-plate Ambrotype on ruby glass
RG1.FIC2009.00057

Tintypes (1856-1905)

• Originally called melainotype and, more accurately, a ferrotype ("ferro" for iron)
• Most common tintype patented by Hamilton Smith, an Ohio College physics and chemistry professor in 1856
• Image on thin black-lacquered sheet of iron
• Cheaper than other contemporary processes
• Less fragile than other cased images, could be mailed and stored in a paper sleeve instead of a case

Jim Red
(b. ca. 800)
Eighth-plate Tintype

Cartes de visite (1859-1905)

• Developed by Frenchman Adolphe-Eugene Disderi in 1854
• Popularized in America in 1861 by photographer J. E. Mayall
• Taken with multi-lens camera, allowing simultaneous creation of multiple copies
• Image developed on albumenized paper (coated with egg whites) which was adhered to card stock
• Mass-produced, sold and widely collected for personal photo albums

Queen Victoria and Children, in Mourning for Prince Albert
Carte-de-Visite

Albumen Prints (1850s-1900s)

• Most popular paper photographic prorocess of mid and late19th century
• Named for albumen (egg white) coated paper that photographers could make or purchase commercially
• Albumenized paper rinsed and coated in other solutions to sensitize it to receive image
• Albumen paper used for stereoscopes and cartes-de-visite

Robert E. Lee Monument
Unveiling, 1898
Monument Avenue
Richmond, Virginia

Stereographs (1852-1871; 1894-1910)