Celebrating 10 Years

Black and white daguerreotype photo of Patent Office building (built in Greek revival style) in 2006
Photograph by Jerry Spagnoli, 2006

Ten years ago today, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum re-opened to the public after six and a half years of renovations. Jerry Spagnoli captured the opening with a daguerreotype, one of the oldest photographic methods, in an image that recreated the first known photograph of the building by John Plumbe, Jr. (below). Daguerreotypes produce mirror images, so all text and signage appear backwards.

Black and white daguerreotype photo of Patent Office building (built in Greek revival style) in 1846
Patent Office Building / John Plumbe Jr. / Daguerreotype, c. 1846 / Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington D.C

 

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