Antoine-Jean-François Claudet: the daguerreotype and the art of portraiture

The Geography Lesson, 1851. Stereoscopic daguerreotype

Portrait of Fox Talbot by Claudet, c.1844

image source: British Library - Points of View

Born in Lyon, France, in 1797, Antoine-Jean-Francois Claudet settled in London in 1827. After a period as a successful glass merchant, he learned the daguerreotype process from Daguerre himself. Claudet purchased the first Daguerreotype licence in England and established his own photographic studio on the roof of the Adelaide Gallery, behind St. Martin's church, London, from 1841 to 1851, later moved to 107 Regent Street. He brought several technical improvements to the Daguerreotype process, including new sensitizing materials, exposure times and focal improvements, and is credit with the discovery that it was possible to develop prints under a red light, as well as the use of painted backdrops. He was appointed photographer to Queen Victoria in 1853.

MGL

Self-portrait with his son, 1853, stereograph daguerreotype

source: Getty.edu

Comments

Heliographic Musings said…

I am a big fan of Claudet having seen many of his stereo-daguerreotypes in the George Eastman House collections. He was did a lot of work on perfecting the optics of stereo-photography. The GEH has great manuscripts of his drawings documenting these studies. I also think he was a master of the hand-colored daguerreotype. Nice post!

December 21, 2011 at 7:05 AM

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