The daguerreotype was invented by:

• A. Henry Fox Talbot
• B. Louis Daguerre
• C. Nicéphore Niépce
• D. George Eastman

Answer: (B)

Louis Daguerre developed the daguerreotype in the 1830s and publicly introduced it in 1839, making it the first practical photographic process. The method uses a polished silver-plated copper plate that’s sensitized with iodine to form silver iodide. After a relatively brief camera exposure, the latent image is developed with mercury vapor and then fixed with a salt solution, producing a single, highly detailed positive image with no negative. This clarity and practicality set it apart from earlier experiments and other pioneers’ work. Henry Fox Talbot created the calotype with paper negatives, Nicéphore Niépce did the very early photo experiments and produced the first surviving photograph, and George Eastman later popularized film photography.