The Daguerreian Society

Photography is so much a part of our lives today that it is hard to imagine a time when it was both a new science and a new art. In the last decade, the switch from film to digital has been incredibly exciting, but nothing compared to that first fifteen years of photography, namely the Daguerreian Era. Razor sharp images on shiny silver plates caused the great scientists and writers of the day to wax prosaically that nature itself was being captured. It is only fitting that they have a timeless quality, even more fascinating now that the digital age is here. This allows us to present the oldest photographic process through the newest technology.

Welcome to our Website, and journey with us through the history, art and lore of those first photos, the daguerreotypes. They are a virtual time machine. Look closely at these images and you are there, transported back through time and space to a bygone age and place that exists before your eyes when you view these magical objects. They are not movie sets, they are not actors, but real people and places as they really looked over a century and a half ago.

-- Matthew Isenburg, Daguerreian Society President

The Daguerreian Society's Mission:
The Daguerreian Society is a nonprofit organization of individuals and institutions dedicated to advancing an understanding and appreciation of the art, history, collection, and practice of the daguerreotype, as well as other photographic processes as they relate to the daguerreotype, through the holding of an Annual Symposium, the publication of the Daguerreian Annual (official yearbook of the Daguerreian Society), Newsletters for its members, and by maintaining a Website.
The Society's By-Laws:
For the better information of members, we now have posted the Daguerreian Society's by-laws (scan in PDF format).

The by-law committee is in the process of an updated revision to better conform with the changes in communication and the current needs of our members that have taken place in the past two decades and it will go before the membership for approval in the near future. Suggestions by members should be sent to info@daguerre.org under the heading REVISIONS, BY-LAWS.

Society Officers and Board Members:


Matthew Isenburg,
President


Karen Kunz,
Vice President


Mike Robinson,
Treasurer


Ken Nelson,
Secretary


Keith Davis


Greg French


Mark S. Johnson


Carl Peterson


Len Walle