History of Photography - Narrative

Version 1:The story of my life, the story of photography

There are dozens of people, dressed completely in black, who are watching me carefully. As soon as the coffin leaves the house, the descendants and acquaintances of my former owner start to discuss which of her many artistic possessions, meaning us, should now belong to whom. Had I been able to, I would probably have laughed in this situation for this is not the first or second time I am going to change owners and each and every time the same situation repeats itself. My constant change in owners, however, is only normal, as I was created in 1844. I can proudly say that I am the 170-year-old Daguerrotype of Louis Daguerre himself.

There are very few people in this world who know that the process needed for creating a Daguerrotype such as me is long and difficult. Photographs like me are taken through exposure of iodized silver plates to light. Those plates are insensitive to light, which leads to a long exposure time, and extremely expensive.  The worth of one plate is as much as that of fine jewellery. So back when I was created I was one of the most expensive possessions of my owner.

While people used to admire photographs such as me, they were also quite fearful of us, suspecting that the faces that resembled them so much could be watching them. Sadly, however, my whole life went through a change the day people realized that they could retouch negatives. Suddenly the mirrored image of their faces was not enough for them anymore, they wanted perfection. If their hair was not completely straight in a photograph they could just edit it later on. This, however, was not the worst of the inventions of photography that was yet to come. Clients even started to request reproductions of their photographs, created by a process that they called “mezzotint”. This process robbed images of their uniqueness and their famous “halo”, which gave our photographs that certain aura of prestige.

Though I am now worth several thousands of euros, the decline in taste when it comes to photography has deeply wounded me. People now make weird V-poses in front of these cameras that are apparently digital and can send them to everybody online. The fact that photographs like me remain though, has led to the revival of old photographs with hundreds of photographers trying to revive style of photography through which we were taken.

Feedback:My peers generally liked my text but mentioned that they could not find a conflict or goal in my story. They also mentioned that I used too much information and therefore did not concentrate enough on the narrative style of my story. So the advised me to use a bit less information and concentrate ind telling the photograph's story instead.

Final Version: The struggles in life of a 170-year-old Daguerrotype

As the first rays of light fall through the dusty windows, dozens of people, dressed completely in black, enter the tiny room and flock around the numerous pictures on the walls. Dust has settled on most photographs’ ebony frames. As soon as everybody has settled around the coffin, located in the middle of this stuffy room, the minute’s silence begins. Soon the silence is broken by quarrelling about who should inherit the many artistic possessions of my former owner. I watch the dispute with the inherent pride of a 170-year old Daguerrotype photograph. That is what I am: An original photograph of Daguerre himself, taken in 1844. Throughout the centuries I have changed owners many times and there is, as always, a single question on my mind: how will my new owner treat me?

My first owner, Daguerre, was the proud inventor of the camera obscura, the precursor of these tiny digital cameras the youth uses nowadays. Of course, when the first camera was invented, having your photo taken was an extremely long and expensive process. Back then iodized silver plates were used to create photographs, a single one of them worth as much as a fine piece of jewellery. Only the elite of society could therefore afford to have their photos taken. Those plates were also insensitive to light, leading to long exposure times. Daguerre therefore treated me with the utmost respect; handling me as though I was the most precious possession in his household, which I probably was.

I was later handed down to his ancestors and had to experience the decrease of prestige in photography. People started to leave their house when they had their pictures taken, returning with images that showed them with weird props in the background, which marked the beginning of studio photography. Worse, people had learned to reproduce photographs with a process called mezzotint, which led to the loss of the halo in photographs, an effect created by long exposure times. People had soon learned, however, to recreate this effect by using the gum print. Consequently, my worth decreased and each following owner handled me with less care.

My train of thought is interrupted by a hand grabbing me. “Mum, I want this one. This one is prettier than all the rest”. I want to smile. My life suddenly seems to go through a change once again.