Léonard Misonne’s Sortie De La Gare, Namur, Belgium, 1938

Viktor Kolar’s photograph of a steam freight train, c1970s

Ghosts of the Past - Decayed Daguerreotypes from the Matthew Brady Studio, 1844-1860

Daguerreotype portraits were made by the model posing (often with head fixed in place with a clamp to keep it still the few minutes required) before an exposed light-sensitive silvered copper plate, which was then developed by mercury fumes and fixed with salts. This fixing however was far from permanent – like the people they captured the images too were subject to change and decay. They were extremely sensitive to scratches, dust, hair, etc, and particularly the rubbing of the glass cover if the glue holding it in place deteriorated. As well as rubbing, the glass itself can also deteriorate and bubbles of solvent explode upon the image. The daguerreotypes below are from the studio of Matthew Brady, one of the most celebrated 19th century American photographers, best known for his portraits of celebrities and his documentation of the American Civil War which earned him the title of “father of photojournalism”. The Library of Congress received the majority of the Brady daguerreotypes as a gift from the Army War College in 1920.

Suzy the Butcher

Steampunk Theme Park 

Forevertron by Dr. Evermor

Built in the 1980s, is the largest scrap metal sculpture in the world, standing 50 ft. high and 120 ft. wide, and weighing 300 tons. 

Anton Belyakov

Svetlana Melik-Nubarova 

Madonna by Lorenzo Agius - Ladies’ Home Journal, 2005.

photographer : Shibina Nadegda