Albumen Print - history and process

daguerreotype from 1850s, collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art, "www.metmuseum.org,"
daguerreotype from 1850s, collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art, "www.metmuseum.org,"

Daguerreotype (French: daguerréotype) process, was invented in France by Louis-Jaques-Mandé Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839. It was a beautiful metal based (silver-plated copper) postive-negative print, but was expensive processes. It could not be reprodued since it was on metal base.

calotype from 1845, collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art, "www.metmuseum.org,"
calotype from 1845, collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art, "www.metmuseum.org,"

At almost the same period of time, a paper based print called Calotype was invented and introduced by William Henry Fox Talbot in England. The light-sensitivity in calotype paper was created by the reaction of silver nitrate with potassium iodide. Calotype positive print can be reproduced from a calotype paper negative and was an inexpensive process. But it had relatively lower contrast image.

carte de visite, albumen prints from 1850s- 1860s, collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art, "www.metmuseum.org,"
carte de visite, albumen prints from 1850s- 1860s, collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art, "www.metmuseum.org,"

The albumen print was introduced by French merchant Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, who studied photography in 1847, and was an improved photographic print on a paper from a negative. It uses the albumen in egg whites to apply salt (sodium chloride) to the paper. Egg white works as coating to make images on paper have more contrast and deeper color.  Albumen prints became the mainstream photographic print from 1850s to the beginning of the 20th century. In the mid-19th century, albumen method was used to produce the carte de visite, which was a popular small sized print method.


*background photo is a historical albumen print from Japan in 1870s, from the Internet archive collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art, "www.metmuseum.org,"