I was showing my latest daguerreotype to a friend the other day and she asked me how many do I have. I hadn’t really thought about it, so I sat down today and did an inventory. I came up with
Image Type
gemtype
1/9th plate
1/6th plate
1/4 plate
1/2 plate
Daguerreotype
1
1
20
6
0
Tintype
1
2
5
0
1
Ambrotype
0
2
7
2
1
Albumen
0
0
0
0
1
Total
2
5
32
8
3
for a grand total of 50 cased images.
I’ll recap as many of them as I have good scans for here. One of these days I’ll get around to re-scanning/photographing the others, which I originally posted to Facebook but not at a consistent file size.
Paris Opera albumen printShopkeepersAnonymous Daguerreotype, ca. 1840-1845
Daughter and Father, daguerrian locketAnonymous young gentleman with goateeLady with glasses, Daguerreotype, quarter plate, anonymous
Mrs. A.A. Hill, DaguerreotypeAnonymous Gentleman in Fancy VestGentleman With Top Hat, dated October 15, 1849Anonymous Daguerreotype, Young Girl, Hand-colored, in Half Case
Daguerreotype, Anonymous Young Man, 1/6th PlateFred Jones, 1861, framed black glass AmbrotypeAnonymous Daguerreotype, Quarter-Plate, in half caseAnonymous, Daguerreotype, Couple, Charlottesville, VAAmbrotype, Penobscot Boy, 1857Sixth Plate Daguerreotype in Union case, anonymous lady in bonnet
Quarter-plate Daguerreotype, Gentleman in book-form caseTintype, boy and his dog.Anonymous Gentleman. Daguerreotype, Half case.
That’s an amazing collection (and I know from your other postings that you have lots and lots more images that are not cased). Each of the photos tells a story, even if the story is often unknown. Taking a photo used to require a lot more thought, knowledge, and preparation, unlike the snaps that most of us take in volume–the delete button makes us sloppy. I suspect that 100 years from now, few will be collecting digital photos the way that you collect old photographs.
Also, digital images having their primary existence online, how does one collect them? And how does one determine ownership, if such a thing is possible? And the provenance of a particular digital image – how can you determine that YOUR copy once belonged to someone famous/important/interesting? Was it obtained fairly and legally, or was it pirated? I can just imagine the nightmare for a curator 100 years from now trying to determine if the digital file they have is authentic or pirated.
dcphotoartist 
That’s an amazing collection (and I know from your other postings that you have lots and lots more images that are not cased). Each of the photos tells a story, even if the story is often unknown. Taking a photo used to require a lot more thought, knowledge, and preparation, unlike the snaps that most of us take in volume–the delete button makes us sloppy. I suspect that 100 years from now, few will be collecting digital photos the way that you collect old photographs.
Also, digital images having their primary existence online, how does one collect them? And how does one determine ownership, if such a thing is possible? And the provenance of a particular digital image – how can you determine that YOUR copy once belonged to someone famous/important/interesting? Was it obtained fairly and legally, or was it pirated? I can just imagine the nightmare for a curator 100 years from now trying to determine if the digital file they have is authentic or pirated.