Louis Daguerre. Illustration of the French inventor of practical photography, Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (1789-1851), at work. He is depicted here discovering the light-sensitive properties of silver iodide. A spoon in his hand is casting a shadow on the card at centre left, forming an image. Although originally employed as a tax officer, Daguerre became a painter of opera scenery, and invented the illuminated diorama. After this he started work with Niepce on chemicals sensitive to light. Niepce died in 1833, but Daguerre continued their work, and unveiled his first camera, the Daguerreotype, in 1839.