Looking back on the ads that helped define photography for a century

Louis Daguerre first introduced his daguerrotype in 1839, and it was the first true camera to break into the mainstream. However, photography was vastly different proposition in the mid-19th century than what it is today — the technology was very in its infancy, and what it meant to society would take decades to develop. That’s where ads came in. Hyperallergic takes us down memory lane and gives a look at what consumers could expect from professional photographers. In the early days, studios emphasized their the skill at capturing dead loved ones. By the turn of the century, the medium was attached to the adventurer and the great outdoors. And photography (and its ads) would again change with onset of the World Wars. Read the entire piece over at Hyperallergic.