Photography’s first artists: Bayard and Cornelius
The late 1830’s saw the invention of photography as a new artform when Louis Daguerre publicised the daguerreotype process. When his work of Boulevard du Temple went on display it caused excitement amongst artists and observers alike as the picture was said to be free of errors and demonstrated the “advantages and wonder of the [daguerreotype] invention”. Hippolyte Bayard and Robert Cornelius became some of the notable photographers of this initial period of photography!
Hippolyte Bayard
Hippolyte Bayard was another pioneer in the history of photography, also a fellow Frenchman, he had also created a process (before or at the same time as Daguerre) to take photographs, known as the direct positive process. The process involved exposing a sheet of silver chloride paper to light, which darkened the paper entirely. The paper was then treated with potassium iodide and placed in a camera for exposure for roughly twelve minutes. After being exposed, the paper was washed in hyposulfite of soda and dried.
One of the most famous photographs using this method is known as the “Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man”, this was arguably one of the first instances of using photography to convey a message. On the back of the photograph he wrote a message that reflected his feelings of neglect from the French government…
