Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839,the daguerreotype was almost completely superseded by 1860 with new, less expensive processes (Ambrotype) yielding more readily viewable images. There was a revival of daguerreotype in the late 20th century by a small number of photographers interested in making artistic use of early photographic processes.
To make the image, a daguerreotypist would polish a sheet of silver-plated copper to a mirror finish, treat it with fumes that made its surface light sensitive, expose it in a camera for as long as was judged to be necessary, which could be as little as a few seconds for brightly sunlit subjects or much longer with less intense lighting; make the resulting latent image on it visible by fuming it with mercury vapor; remove its sensitivity to light by liquid chemical treatment, rinse and dry it, then seal the easily marred result behind glass in a protective enclosure.
Photography studios then opened as people began to have their portraits taken and this was the start of the photography business as we know it today