Louis Daguerre

Hello. My name is Louis Daguerre. A long, long time ago, in the year 1787, I was born. When I was a boy, I loved to paint pictures. I did not paint little pictures. I painted big, big pictures that were as large as a whole room. I used special lights to make them look so real. It was like you could walk right into my painting. People came to my theater to see my amazing pictures.

Painting was fun, but I had an even bigger idea. I wanted to use the sunshine to make a picture. A picture of trees, houses, and friendly faces. I wanted the picture to stay forever. I worked with my friend, Nicéphore Niépce. He had the same dream. We worked very hard to make a picture that would not go away.

After trying for a long time, I did it. I found a way to catch a picture on a shiny silver plate. I called my special picture a 'daguerreotype'. It looked like a little mirror that held a picture inside. People thought it was wonderful. Now, families could have a picture to keep forever. In the year 1839, I shared my idea with everyone in the world so they could make pictures too.

I lived to be 63 years old, and my life ended in 1851. My invention was the start of something new called photography. Every time you see a picture, you are seeing my dream come true. My work helps people save their happy memories, and that is a wonderful thing.