alb3603126

WILLIAM LANGENHEIM, FREDERICK LANGENHEIM. Frederick Langenheim Looking at Talbotypes

Frederick Langenheim Looking at Talbotypes. Artist: William Langenheim (American, born Germany, Schöningen 1807-1874); Frederick Langenheim (American, born Germany, Schöningen 1809-1879). Dimensions: Image: 12.1 × 8.9 cm (4 3/4 × 3 1/2 in.)
Case: 1.6 × 15.2 × 11.9 cm (5/8 in. × 6 in. × 4 11/16 in.). Photography Studio: W. & F. Langenheim (American, active 1843-1874). Date: ca. 1849-51.
In 1849 the Langenheim brothers bought the United States patent for making photographs from paper negatives from William Henry Fox Talbot, the medium's inventor. The Langenheims also continued to produce daguerreotypes, such as this brilliant composition in which Frederick examines a group of Talbotype portraits-including his own-that may themselves be copies of daguerreotypes. In other words, this image presents three distinct subjects: Frederick Langenheim, photography itself, and the very process of reproduction. Using the nonreproducible daguerreotype process to make a picture about reproduction may seem paradoxical, but the incomparable detail seen here, from the visible writing on the mounts of the paper prints to the finely woven pattern in Frederick's silk vest, would have been impossible to capture with a paper negative.

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Author: WILLIAM LANGENHEIM (1807-1874) • FREDERICK LANGENHEIM (1809-1879)

Title: Frederick Langenheim Looking at Talbotypes

Caption: Frederick Langenheim Looking at Talbotypes. Artist: William Langenheim (American, born Germany, Schöningen 1807-1874); Frederick Langenheim (American, born Germany, Schöningen 1809-1879). Dimensions: Image: 12.1 × 8.9 cm (4 3/4 × 3 1/2 in.) Case: 1.6 × 15.2 × 11.9 cm (5/8 in. × 6 in. × 4 11/16 in.). Photography Studio: W. & F. Langenheim (American, active 1843-1874). Date: ca. 1849-51. In 1849 the Langenheim brothers bought the United States patent for making photographs from paper negatives from William Henry Fox Talbot, the medium's inventor. The Langenheims also continued to produce daguerreotypes, such as this brilliant composition in which Frederick examines a group of Talbotype portraits-including his own-that may themselves be copies of daguerreotypes. In other words, this image presents three distinct subjects: Frederick Langenheim, photography itself, and the very process of reproduction. Using the nonreproducible daguerreotype process to make a picture about reproduction may seem paradoxical, but the incomparable detail seen here, from the visible writing on the mounts of the paper prints to the finely woven pattern in Frederick's silk vest, would have been impossible to capture with a paper negative.

Feature: DAGUERREOTYPE

Technique/material: DAGUERREOTYPE

Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Credit: Album

Image size: 2714 × 3347 px | 26.0 MB

Print size: 23.0 × 28.3 cm | 1068.5 × 1317.7 in (300 dpi)

Keywords: DAGUERREOTYPE • DAGUERREOTYPES • FREDERICK LANGENHEIM • METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, USA • NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA • PHOTOGRAPHS • UNITED STATES • WILLIAM LANGENHEIM