Birth of Modern Europe
Why the Processes Were Popular
The daguerreotype was an instantly popular invention. It was created during the Victorian age, a time when people had an interest in amassing material objects. Only one print could be made by the daguerreotype process, allowing it to be used in portraiture, but little else. They were cheaper than an artist's rendering of a portrait, which allowed people of all status to partake in it. What Is A Daguerreotype?
Louis Daguerre. The Pavillon de Flore and the Pont-Royal, 1839[3]
While the calotype was not as popular as the daguerreotype, it had some distinct advantages. The calotype could be reproduced allowing it to be circulated publicly. The speed of the process and the easy production of multiple copies were highly valued features of new technology during the Industrial Revolution. The calotype's lack of fine detail was transformed into an advantage by David Octavius Hill. From 1843 through 1848 Hill used the calotype's lack of quality to create magnificent combinations of colors and light. What Is A Calotype?
The collodion process was an instant success when it was invented by Frederick Archer. Since it combined the reproducibility of the calotype with the detail of the daguerreotype, the collodion process superceded both, and was adopted internationally as the primary photographic technique. The collodion process shows us that photography was clearly appreciated during the time period in which it was invented because of the amount of research that went into advancing the photographic art form. What Is The Collodion Process?
[3] 2000-2004, The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art ? The Dawn of Photography: French Daguerreotypes, <http://www.metmuseum.org/special/French_Daguerreotypes/dawn_images.htm>