Capturing ‘piles of moments’ with a daguerrotype

Japanese photographer Takashi Arai works with daguerreotypes, an old photographic technique which he says record ‘piles of moments’ – revealing the subject’s ‘true personality’. It’s not a quick process and you’d be gutted if you missed the shot. The use of mercury and other chemicals in its preparation makes it somewhat unsafe. But it’s kind of magical, since each daguerrotype is a one-off, a unique capture. Spotted on John Edwin Mason’s fab blog.