Untitled (Portrait of Joseph White)
1854
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
8.2 × 7 cm (3 1/4 × 2 13/16 in.); Open case: 9.3 × 16.2 × 1.2 cm (3 11/16 × 6 7/16 × 1/2 in.); Case: 9.3 × 8.1 × 1.7 cm (3 11/16 × 3 1/4 × 11/16 in.); Plate: 8.3 × 7 cm (3 1/4 × 2 3/4 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
250070
Art Historical Context
Step into the dawn of photography with *Untitled (Portrait of Joseph White)*, a captivating daguerreotype from 1854 created by an unknown maker. This intimate portrait, measuring just 8.2 × 7 cm, captures the solemn gaze of its subject against a softly lit backdrop, housed in a protective case typical of the era—open, it spans 9.3 × 16.2 × 1.2 cm. As one of the earliest photographic processes, the daguerreotype produces a unique, mirror-like positive image on a silvered copper plate, polished to a mirror finish and exposed in a camera for several minutes. Invented in 1839 by Louis Daguerre, t...