These daguerreotypes from the 1840s and '50s — newly restored in vivid color — capture a generation of Americans that lived through the Revolutionary War and the execution of Marie Antoinette.
Many daguerreotype portraits look pretty somber. That's because it took so long for the camera to capture the photograph that those sitting for a photo couldn't keep up a smile.Public Domain Public Domain Pictured is Nathaniel P. Banks, who was 36 years old when this picture was taken in 1852. He would later be a U.S. congressman, the governor of Massachusetts, and a Union Army general in the Civil War.Public Domain Public Domain It took Louis Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotype, nearly a decade to perfect his method.Public Domain Public Domain An unknown man circa 1848.Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Snapped by James Presley Ball in the 1840s, this photo features Oliver Cowdery, the first baptized Latter Day Saint, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates, one of the first Latter Day Saint apostles, and the Second Elder of the church. He died in 1850.Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain An unknown woman circa 1848.Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain This is Laura Bridgman. She was left deaf and blind at the age of two after contracting scarlet fever, and is known as the first deaf-blind American child to gain a significant education in the English language — 50 years before Helen Keller. Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain The old woman in this 1850s portrait is in mourning attire, wearing a black cape and bonnet. According to the 1840s Workman's Guide, "Mourning customs are strict... Every stranger they met will recognize their mourning clothes and wont hurt the feelings of the mourner with unnecessary jaunty remarks. There are four stages of mourning: They began with a dull black dress, gradually adding more luster and color, and finally wearing a lavender, purple or scarlet dress in the last mourning stage before returning to wear colors."Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain This elderly man is photographed holding a walking cane, circa 1850. Many of the men in these photographs used walking canes, potentially because there were no alternatives for those suffering with joint issues. The first hip replacement surgery was in 1891, and knee replacements didn't happen until 1968.Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain "You'll notice a lot of people in the photographs have issues with their teeth," colorizer Matt Loughrey observes. "To me, it looks like they're on the receiving end of dental issues that just weren't fixable. In fact, denture bases had only been invented in the first half of the 1840s and dental drills weren't going to be around until the 1870s."Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain George Lippard, a writer pictured here in 1850, was an avowed socialist and a good friend of Edgar Allen Poe. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 32, just a few years after losing his wife, son, and daughter. His last words were to his physician: "Is this death?"Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain Public Domain
21 Stunning Colorized Portraits Of What May Be The Oldest Generation Ever Photographed View GalleryThe first photograph ever taken — a blur of gray shapes captured in 1826 or 1827 — doesn't resemble the photography we know today. In fact, modern photography wouldn't come into focus until around the 1840s.
Wikimedia CommonsAn enhanced version of the first photograph ever taken made in 1952 by Helmut Gersheim.
It likely took the creator of the first photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, at least a few hours and perhaps several days of exposure to capture his image. Taken from a window in Burgundy, France, the image was immortalized on a pewter plate coated in bitumen that was diluted in lavender oil.
The process was called "heliography," but the method took on a more efficient form in 1838 when Niépce's partner, Louis Daguerre, took the oldest known photograph of a person.
The product, naturally dubbed a "daguerreotype," was presented to the French Academy of Sciences in 1839.
The daguerreotype quickly became the most popular form of photography. As the method was refined and advanced, it only required people to sit still for about a minute to capture their portrait, thought sometimes children would be bound and restrained in order to keep them from moving while their image was being captured.
The process was nonetheless rather involved compared to today's standards of photography. First, a sheet of silver-plated metal had to be polished and made reflective. That sheet was treated with fumes that rendered it light-sensitive, transferred to a camera using a light-proof box, and finally, it was exposed to light.
An image would then be left on the surface of the metal — a direct-positive image, not a negative like in modern film photography — which would be treated with hot mercury and fixed with a salt solution. The result was a remarkably detailed image in black, white, and gray.
The method was used to capture landscapes and and portraits, as moving images would turn out blurry. The daguerreotype became the foundation for the printing process throughout the latter half of the 19th century, and remained immensely popular even after Kodak released the first commercially available celluloid film in 1889.
The photographs in the gallery above are all daguerreotypes from the 1840s and '50s, when the method was most popular. Daguerreotypes were also used by one of the earliest photographers in American history, Mathew Brady, known for his startling images of the American Civil War.
Mathew B. Brady / National Portrait GalleryThis photograph of Abraham Lincoln, taken on Feb. 27, 1860, was done by Brady who was known to photograph the likes of Union officials Ulysses S. Grant, George Custer, and George Stoneman.
Because photography in the 19th century was so involved, the art form was mostly reserved for professionals. It also wasn't cheap to get a portrait. In 1842, a daguerreotype could go for anywhere from $81 to $195 by today's standards. Thus, many of the people in the gallery above were likely of considerable means.
But perhaps most notable about these portraits is that they are of arguably the oldest generation of people ever to be immortalized on film. Some of the older faces in the gallery could have been born in the late 1700s, rendering these portraits the first visual record of themselves that they had; it was the first time they could look at their own faces without looking into a mirror.
The colorization process has been rendered significantly more efficient since digitization. Matt Loughrey, who colorized these portraits, uses a computer program that recognizes the relationship between greyscale hues and their corresponding colors. He corresponds with libraries and museums for original and high-quality scans of photographs; high-quality scans with clear resolution are integral to rendering an accurate colorization
Among his favorite periods to colorize is the American Civil War because it's "a very storyful era," he says. Indeed, on the faces of those pictured above are the stories of two wars on American soil, the agita of everyday life before the turn of the century, and the recognizable glimpse of excitement for having one's photo taken for the first time.
Next up, check out these fantastic colorized photos of New York City from 100 years ago. Then, explore the mugshots of 33 of the most recognizable criminals — in vivid color.
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