Through a Lens Darkly: Exploring the photography of the film Daguerreotype (2016)

In honor of Halloween, Jared Case, curator of film exhibitions at the Eastman Museum, decided it would be fun to screen three scary films that feature photography as an important plot point. In response, we thought it would be fun to get a group together from our Department of Photography (DOP), watch all three films, and discuss the accuracy of them. This blog post shares the conversation we had around our first film, Daguerreotype (2016).

SPOILER ALERT: Because we are talking about details in the film, we may give away some of the key twists and plot points. We suggest watching the film first, then checking out the blog post!

Jared Case, curator of film exhibitions: In the past, Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has tackled sci-fi jump-horror films such as Pulse. But for Daguerrotype, shot in France, he imbues the film with an ethereal, DuMaurier-inspired dread in the tradition of Hitchcock’s Rebecca. The story follows Jean, a young man looking for work who falls into a job assisting Stephane in his creation of giant daguerreotypes. The images seem to be in memory of Stephane’s late wife, but he uses his daughter as a model, wearing her mother’s dress, and forces her to stand still, sometimes for hours on end. The strange atmosphere in Stephane’s villa begins to wear on Jean, to the point that he can hardly tell what’s real anymore.

Kate Meyers Emery, manager of digital engagement: Well, the title reveals the photographic connection, the daguerreotype, and some of the key plot points rely on one’s understanding of this photographic process, such as the need to stand still for long periods of time. What exactly is a daguerreotype and how are they actually produced?

Jamie M. Allen, associate curator, DOP: The idea of life-sized daguerreotypes is pretty wonderful, but I was curious just how practical it would be after watching this film. A 6x4-foot sheet of silver coated copper would weight upwards of 100 pounds, so it is likely that two healthy men could carry it. However, at the thickness of a typical daguerreotype plate, one that large would likely warp. After bumping up the thickness of the copper you are probably looking at a 250 pound plate.

Today, the cost of such a beefy sheet of silver coated copper would be around $5,350 just for the metal, but finding a factory that can produce an electroplated copper plate of that size is going to be a challenge. With a lot of time and patience one could polish a plate that size to mirror-like perfection.

You also need all of the chemistry to sensitize, develop and fix the plate, so tack on several hundred dollars to your costs. It would be preferable to sensitize the plate with iodine and bromine, but let’s just say a huge vat of bromine really isn’t something you want laying around. So, you opt to just use iodine like most modern daguerreotypists. This makes your exposure time in the camera lengthy, so I’d suggest selecting a well-lit area (not the basement of a country house). In the film they use a shower to rinse the plate, which could be a practical solution after the plate is fixed, but pouring on the chemistry and holding it on the plate may take some specialty equipment.

Oh, I forgot to mention that you’ll also need a camera large enough to hold the plate, as well as a light-tight plate holder with a dark slide to shield the plate after it is sensitized. So, add on at least two sheets of plywood (about 160 pounds of additional weight to lift) so now you are looking at moving something that is closer to 450–500 pounds from the darkroom to the camera and back, and then lifting up over a giant vat of mercury. You’re going to need a team of assistants just to move the thing.

So, sure, it is theoretically could be possible, with enough specialty equipment, the right space, as well as lots of time and money. Let’s just say I’m thinking that I’ll skip trying this at home.

Kate: One of the things I kept noticing throughout the film was how they kept focusing on mirrors. The horror movie fan in me kept expecting a jump scare any time there was a long-shot with a mirror in it; but I never got that. It wasn’t until our discussions later, that I began to think a little more about what the mirrors mean. Why are mirrors important to the film?

Jamie: Daguerreotypes are often called “the mirror with a memory.”

Lisa Hostetler, curator in charge, DOP: Because the daguerreotype process requires a highly polished silver surface, it is highly reflective. You have to move it around to find the best angle for seeing the image, depending on where the light is coming from in the room where you are looking at it, and no matter what you do, you see your own reflection along with the image on the daguerreotype.

This conjunction of images — that of the viewer and that of a daguerreotype portrait subject — has spawned a number of poetic and philosophical observations, especially just after photography’s invention was announced in 1839. One of my favorite quotes is from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who thought of the daguerreotype as enabling the viewer to see the “very shadow” of a loved one no matter where that person was, whether far away or no longer on Earth.

Jared: Mirrors are often used in films as a way to explore duality, as the mirror can 1) reveal something to a character who is now looking at herself from the outside; 2) reveal something internal to the character that the other characters are not seeing; and 3) provide the audience with two seemingly identical images of the character, suggesting a fracture somewhere in the character’s makeup. Horror films also use mirrors to put characters in situations where they can see things that are behind them. The subversion of these tropes in Daguerrotype create an unresolved tension and provide for interesting discussion about what it means when nothing is reflected in the mirror.

Kate: A plot point they keep coming back to, but don’t really discuss, is the mercury that they are using in the photographic process. We see Jean dumping chemicals into containers, we see them using chemicals with masks on, and we see the containers leaking into the garden and killing everything… but they never really explain how this relates to the story, and how it may explain the ending!

Jamie: Mercury poisoning is known by many names, including erethism and mad hatter syndrome. Felt hat makers are particularly subject to this disease due to prolonged exposure to mercury vapors. As daguerreotype also requires the maker to be near mercury fumes, modern-day daguerreotypists use specially-fitted respirators to protect themselves from this disease.

Jared: This is handled very subtly in the film, and I actually had to have it explained to me after watching the film twice. As we are talking about the ending, I won’t say too much, only that the film is seeing things through the characters’ eyes, and not from an objective distance.

Kate: Let’s end with our rankings. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rank the film on:

Accuracy (with 1 being that they don’t know anything about photography, and 10 being that everything was 100% accurate)

Jared: 6

Lisa: 6

Jamie: 6

Heather: 6

Kate: 6

Scare-Factor (with 1 being that it wasn’t scary at all and doesn’t belong in this genre, and 10 being that you’re still leaving the lights on and having nightmares about it)

Jared: 6

Lisa: 6

Jamie: 5

Heather: 7

Kate: 5

Overall Enjoyment (with 1 being that you wouldn’t suggest anyone watch it ever, and 10 being that it’s your new favorite film)

Jared: 9

Lisa: 7

Jamie: 7

Heather: 8

Kate: 7