Sixth Plate

WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. Initially, when I examined the kid through filthy glass and saw him holding this hat, I suspected that the daguerreian lit his little client using an overhead skylight. That would have made it difficult to accurately render his face with such perfection if the brim of his chapeau had cast a shadow. But when I used a loupe and looked at the shadowing I realized that more common conventional sidelight was in play, with a reflector on the right. I don’t think that it would have been achievable to record crisper whites or richer blacks on this newly archivally sealed sixth plate. The reflective depth is brilliant. When the separated cover of the leather case is removed the boy springs to life.