Louis Daguerre, French Inventor

Louis Daguerre (1789-1851) was a French artist and physicist and inventor of the daguerreotype process of photography. Although originally employed as a tax officer, Daguerre became a painter of opera scenery, and invented the illuminated diorama. After this he started work with Niepce on chemicals sensitive to light. Niepce died in 1833, but Daguerre continued their work, and unveiled his first camera, the Daguerreotype, in 1839. The Daguerreotype was the Polaroid film of its day: it produced a unique image which could only be duplicated by using a camera to photograph the original. Despite this drawback, millions of Daguerreotypes were produced. Daguerre died in 1851 of a heart attack. Daguerre's name is one of the 72 inscribed on the Eiffel tower

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1789 1839 Daguerre Daguerreotype Diorama Eiffel

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