Early March this year the website www.daguerreobase.org went online. Pictura built this custom-made website for the Nederlands Fotomuseum (Dutch Photo Museum) as part of the Daguerreobase project that the Fotomuseum started in 2004.

Daguerreotype
Daguerreotype is the first form of photography to be applied on a large scale. The method was publicized on the 7th of January 1839 by the Frenchman Louis Daguerre. He had continued the research he had done before together with inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, who, in 1825, made the first permanent photograph. Daguerre discovered that he could fix a briefly exposed iodized silver-coated copper plate with mercury vapor.

Daguerreotypes can be very clear and sharp. The microscopic silver-mercury amalgamate particles form images with an exceptionally high resolution that is even now impressive. However, this photography method fell into disuse as faster processes were developed and especially with the development of the calotype, which allowed for multiple prints to be made from a single negative.

Every detail
The daguerreobase project was started by the conservation section of the Nederlands Fotomuseum to gather as much knowledge about daguerreotype process as possible and to make it accessible to whoever was interested. The process of restoring daguerreotypes turned out to be a valuable source of information. Normally, collections are stored in a safe place, which means that the connections between the different collections are almost never discovered. Allowing free access to all the details in an international database can greatly simplify researching the daguerreotype process.

To realize that goal, in 2009 Pictura built a website for the Nederlands Fotomuseum using the existing database: www.daguerreobase.org. The unique project demanded a unique website. That is why the website was custom-made according to the Fotomuseum's wishes. For each daguerreotype approximately 300 aspects could be described and to be able to enter all of them in the database we did our best to create the most user-friendly interface possible.

Would you like to know more?
Pictura has a great deal of experience building websites for companies in the heritage sector. If you want to know how we can help you, please call our account manager automation, Cor van der Wal.