Snapshots of the Past

Unidentified man, half-length portrait, damaged daguerreotype plate – Historic Photo Reproduction

Unidentified man, half-length portrait, damaged daguerreotype plate, 1844 — historic photograph
Unidentified man, half-length portrait, damaged daguerreotype plate, 1844. Historic photograph from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection.

(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic photograph of Unidentified man, half-length portrait, damaged daguerreotype plate. Drawn from the Snapshots of the Past archive, it is an authentic piece of documented history.

Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. Perfect for a home, office, library or classroom wall, and a gift with a story behind it. 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.

Unidentified man, half-length portrait, damaged daguerreotype plate

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Ask about licensing or this print

A half-length portrait of an unidentified man, dated to 1844, survives on a daguerreotype plate that has suffered visible damage, and that wear is part of what makes it worth a closer look. Daguerreotypes were made on silvered copper sheets, so scratches, tarnish, and flaking of the image layer leave marks that a paper print would not show. Portraits from this period were typically made in studios with long exposures, so sitters were asked to hold still for many seconds, and the subject's posture and expression reflect that demand. Because the sitter is unnamed, the record offers no biography, and the plate stands instead as a document of the early photographic process and the everyday practice of sitting for a likeness in the mid-1840s.

Created / published1844
Original scan3,285 × 4,096 px · prints to 11 × 14 in at 300 dpi
Reference415_Unidentified_man_halfle_1844

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