In 1839, Louis-Jacques-Mand茅 Daguerre unveiled one of the world鈥檚 first successful photographic mediums: the daguerreotype. The process transformed the human experience by providing a means to capture light and record people, places, and events. The 人妻少妇专区 is leading groundbreaking nanotechnology research that explores the extraordinary qualities of this photographic process. A new exhibition in Rush Rhees Library showcases the results of this research, while bridging the gap between the sciences and the humanities. 鈥淩esearching the Daguerreotype at the 人妻少妇专区: Nanotechnology Meets Local History鈥� features daguerreotypes from the River 人妻少妇专区 Libraries鈥� Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation; the Rochester Museum and Science Center; and the George Eastman Museum.
鈥淭his is a rare opportunity to see a variety of daguerreotypes in one exhibition, especially numerous plates created in Western New York,鈥� said Mary Ann Mavrinac, vice provost and Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of River 人妻少妇专区 Libraries. 鈥淚t is truly remarkable to highlight this research鈥攔esearch that may help develop future non-altering techniques for the preservation of this precious cultural process.鈥�
For over 175 years, surviving daguerreotypes have been carefully preserved in private and public collections and displayed in museums and cultural institutions around the world. While damage to daguerreotype plates is often visible by eye, evidence of further deterioration may only be detected at the nano level, by looking at features that are hundreds or thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. From 2010-2014, a National Science Foundation grant supported nanotechnology research conducted by two 人妻少妇专区 scientists鈥擭icholas Bigelow, Lee A. DuBridge Professor of Physics, and Ralph Wiegandt, visiting research scientist and conservator鈥攚ho explored how environment impacts the survival of these unique, non-reproducible images. In addition to conservation science and cultural research, Bigelow and Wiegandt are also investigating ways in which the chemical and physical processes used to create daguerreotypes can influence modern nanofabrication and nanotechnology.
鈥淭he daguerreotype should be considered one of humankind鈥檚 most disruptive technological advances,鈥� Bigelow and Wiegandt said. 鈥淣ot only was it the first successful imaging medium, it was also the first truly engineered nanotechnology. The daguerreotype was a prescient catalyst to the ensuing cascade of discoveries in physics and chemistry over the latter half of the 19th聽century and into the 20th.鈥�
Blending the past with the future, the exhibition displays the first known daguerreotype of a Rochester graduating class (1853) alongside a 2015 daguerreotype of current University President Joel Seligman, created by Rochester daguerreotypist Irving Pobboravsky. The exhibition will also include a rare daguerreotype of famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass on loan from the Chester County Historical Society in Pennsylvania. Once owned by Susan B. Anthony, this unique portrait will be examined under electron scanning microscopy and displayed with new research findings into its creation and preservation.
The exhibition is on view through February 29, 2016 in the Friedlander Lobby of Rush Rhees Library. A special presentation about the scientific advances surrounding the daguerreotype and their relationship to cultural preservation will be led by Bigelow, Wiegandt, and Jim Kuhn, assistant dean for Special Collections and Preservation, on December 14 from 7-9 p.m. in the Hawkins-Carlson Room of Rush Rhees Library. For more information visit: or call (585) 275-4477.
