Daguerreotype Photography (Early Photography) - Greg French
One of the segments of the photography market that hasn't gained the press that it deserves is Daguerreotype photography. Unless you're really into photography, Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy, you probably don't remember Frenchman and photography pioneer Louis Daguerre. In truth, Daguerre experimented on way to capture images and successfully produced the technology to create a positive image fixed on a highly polished metal plate circa 1839.
I've not seen many daguerreotype photographs until I visited the Photographic Historical Society of New England show in April. By chance, I discovered the booth of Daguerreotype aficionado and highly regarded photography dealer/collector, Greg French.
He had photographs from everywhere of varying subjects, profiles, social stata and geographic locations -- in real good condition. Though he wasn't there that day, I knew I had to meet the man behind this body of work.
Greg kindly responded to my request to visit him to be introduced to the amazing world of Daguerreotype photography.
Greg mentioned he started collecting in 1981 after an encounter with Art Dealer and Collector friends. He took out a pocket sized photo in a delicate period photo holder. It depicted children all barefoot looking almost perplexed at the camera. Beside them stood a work animal with a carriage fastened alongside itself. There was an immediate connection which ignited his passion for early photography.
"Most of the people are anonymous," explains Greg.
Thought about how documentary portraiture today is quite similar to early photography with the same biased towards unknowns. The nameless people of the mid 1800's look quite similar to the unknowns posing for hyper-kinetic digital photographers in Boston Common or Park Avenue.
"The medium was so rare but fast gained traction. Europe and the Americas were early adaptors of the technology. There's not many photographs available (in circulation) from Sweden." Greg mentions.
He turned and showed me more photographs mostly African American photos and then I realized that they really showed the implicit composition of stature.
"This was life back in the day... raw and real ", as he showed me a daguerreotype photo of a Caucasian girl sitting on a stool and an African American boy (playmate) sitting beside her at a lowered position seeming to look as an aside not knowing he actually is the exclamation point of the photo. That moment in time captured forever.
He took out photos from the home country too. Daguerreotypes from Europe, France, Switzerland are quite common. 95% of the photographs are portraiture but his photography collection is rich in social commentary and history.
At the end of the visit, I asked Greg what his thought were about starting an Art Collection and here's some of this very valuable suggestions:
1. Buy from the Heart. Buy for the long haul. You can have a micro-collection of two pieces and still have a collection. It doesn't matter how many pieces you have as long as you feel a connection to it.
2. It may be better to cherry-pick the genre or type of photographs you collect. Some collectors look into periods say 1840-1842. Flower. Landscapes. Know what you want and stick to it.
3. Condition is very important but sometimes sacrifice condition for content.
Early and period photography are not all stiff. The photo above shows a serious family portrait (to the left) and a more relaxed one to the right.
The family portrait above is sold by Greg on ebay. If you're interested to find him on ebay (id GENEST) let me know and I can introduce you to him. Must say that Greg is himself a treasure and an able custodian of memory and history.
Greg mentions the flow of investment and interest is following the general flow of the art market -- Early Asian photography. Time to discover the interesting world of Daguerreotypes.
I've not seen many daguerreotype photographs until I visited the Photographic Historical Society of New England show in April. By chance, I discovered the booth of Daguerreotype aficionado and highly regarded photography dealer/collector, Greg French.
He had photographs from everywhere of varying subjects, profiles, social stata and geographic locations -- in real good condition. Though he wasn't there that day, I knew I had to meet the man behind this body of work.
Greg kindly responded to my request to visit him to be introduced to the amazing world of Daguerreotype photography.
Greg mentioned he started collecting in 1981 after an encounter with Art Dealer and Collector friends. He took out a pocket sized photo in a delicate period photo holder. It depicted children all barefoot looking almost perplexed at the camera. Beside them stood a work animal with a carriage fastened alongside itself. There was an immediate connection which ignited his passion for early photography.
"Most of the people are anonymous," explains Greg.
Thought about how documentary portraiture today is quite similar to early photography with the same biased towards unknowns. The nameless people of the mid 1800's look quite similar to the unknowns posing for hyper-kinetic digital photographers in Boston Common or Park Avenue.
"The medium was so rare but fast gained traction. Europe and the Americas were early adaptors of the technology. There's not many photographs available (in circulation) from Sweden." Greg mentions.
He turned and showed me more photographs mostly African American photos and then I realized that they really showed the implicit composition of stature.
"This was life back in the day... raw and real ", as he showed me a daguerreotype photo of a Caucasian girl sitting on a stool and an African American boy (playmate) sitting beside her at a lowered position seeming to look as an aside not knowing he actually is the exclamation point of the photo. That moment in time captured forever.
He took out photos from the home country too. Daguerreotypes from Europe, France, Switzerland are quite common. 95% of the photographs are portraiture but his photography collection is rich in social commentary and history.
At the end of the visit, I asked Greg what his thought were about starting an Art Collection and here's some of this very valuable suggestions:
1. Buy from the Heart. Buy for the long haul. You can have a micro-collection of two pieces and still have a collection. It doesn't matter how many pieces you have as long as you feel a connection to it.
2. It may be better to cherry-pick the genre or type of photographs you collect. Some collectors look into periods say 1840-1842. Flower. Landscapes. Know what you want and stick to it.
3. Condition is very important but sometimes sacrifice condition for content.
Early and period photography are not all stiff. The photo above shows a serious family portrait (to the left) and a more relaxed one to the right.
The family portrait above is sold by Greg on ebay. If you're interested to find him on ebay (id GENEST) let me know and I can introduce you to him. Must say that Greg is himself a treasure and an able custodian of memory and history.
Greg mentions the flow of investment and interest is following the general flow of the art market -- Early Asian photography. Time to discover the interesting world of Daguerreotypes.
posted by TheresNoTylerDurden at 7:53 AM
11 Comments:
Terrific blog and wonderful find. It sounds like Greg French is truly a gem.
Rick
Where do you find these guys? Interesting stuff!
Daguerreotypes are really cool collector's item. Friends of mine collect primarily Civil War images. Nice write up.
I'd like to see more images. Post more photos.
Fred. Thanks for asking. I'll try to contact Greg French and ask if it is possible to view some more Daguerreotype photos. You can always see his current offerings on EBAY. His seller id is GENEST. Good luck.
This is really cool.
I found you online. I think your blog is very well-written. Keep at it.
What a great article! Thank you. The photos on here are beautiful--the daguerreotypes as well as the others.
I have had many dealings with Greg, he has a great eye for 19th century photography and is a terrific dealer
Yeah, Greg is a great guy and an awesome collector. Hope you can share more about your photos...
TNTD
Hi,
My name is Adam and I'm working for Hidden Hill Productions in New York. We're working on an episode of the PBS show American Experience about Walt Whitman. There are some images from Mr. French's collection that we may want to use for the documentary, so we're looking for his contact information. Aside from his ebay seller id, would you be able to provide any additional contact info for him? The images are from the David Deitcher book "Dear Friends..." If you'd like to contact me seperately you can at mcgarity.ab@gmail.com. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Adam
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