Daguerreotypieplaat [zonder zichtbare voorstelling] c. 1850

This is an early photographic plate, made by Eduard Isaac Asser. It’s a daguerreotype – one of the first commercially viable photographic processes. What makes this object so interesting is its materiality. Daguerreotypes are made on a sheet of silver-plated copper, polished to a mirror finish. The plate is then sensitized with iodine vapor, exposed in a camera, and developed with mercury vapor. The resulting image is incredibly detailed and sharp, but also very fragile. You have to see it just right to get a perfect view of it. But this one is missing its picture. What remains is the highly polished surface. This makes it into a kind of mirror - a space of pure potential, promising an image, but ultimately withholding it. Even in its ruined state, this daguerreotype speaks volumes about photography's early days, reminding us that every image involves specific materials, labor, and processes.