Portrait of an unidentified man, daguerreotype – Historic Photograph Print
(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This rare historic photograph captures Portrait of an unidentified man, daguerreotype in remarkable detail. It comes from the Snapshots of the Past collection, curated over 25 years for its historical value.
Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. It brings character to any room and makes a memorable gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Portrait of an unidentified man, daguerreotype
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A sitter whose name has been lost to time is the defining feature of this 1844 daguerreotype, a portrait made only five years after the process was publicly announced in France in 1839. Daguerreotypes were unique, mirror-like images on silvered copper plates, so each one is the only original, and the metal surface reflects the viewer's own face as the picture is tilted. Exposures in that early period often ran for several minutes, which required sitters to hold still in a head clamp or against a stand. Portraits like this one were made for families and individuals who could afford the cost, and they offer a rare glimpse of how ordinary people dressed and presented themselves in the mid-1840s.
| Created / published | 1844 |
|---|---|
| Original scan | 3,299 × 4,096 px · prints to 11 × 14 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | 380_Unidentified_man_about_1844 |
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Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
