Untitled (Portrait of a Man, Woman and Girl) 1856

This photographic portrait of a family - a man, woman, and young girl - was created by an anonymous artist using the 19th-century daguerreotype process. A daguerreotype is made on a silvered copper plate, polished to a mirror finish and then treated with fumes to make its surface light-sensitive. After being exposed in a camera, the image is developed by mercury vapor, fixed, and sealed behind glass. The result is a unique, incredibly detailed image. What's remarkable is the way the daguerreotype democratized portraiture. Before photography, only the wealthy could afford to have their likeness captured in a painted portrait, requiring hours of sitting. With the daguerreotype, the emerging middle class could participate in visual culture and, for the first time, have a relatively inexpensive and lasting memento of themselves and their loved ones. The creation of this image involved both technical skill and labor, from the preparation of the plate to the final presentation in its ornate case. It represents a shift in artistic practice, blending science, craft, and the burgeoning consumer culture of the time.