Look: Casella and Herrera found 18 oldest photos of the Philippines.
LOOK – Rosina Herrera and Luisa Casella found something very memorable in Hispanic Society of America located in New York City, United States.
As years passed by, a lot of things has really changed. Technology has brought great changes to the world. These changes have impacted on the mode of transportation, the manner of communication, and even the field of entertainment, photography, and many others.
In the field of transportation, horses and carabaos being the aid in transferring from one place to another are seldom seen now. What we have instead ranges from bikes and pedicabs to luxurious cars and trucks when traveling on land.
Meanwhile, in water, we have from pump boats to large ships. On air, helicopters and airplanes are being utilized. In the field of communication, things became easier with the invention of mobile phones. These phones also include entertainment purposes.
Another field that has greatly developed through the years with the help of the advancement in Science is photography. Based on a recent discovery report in Filipiknow, before, there is this daguerreotype which is the ‘great granddaddy’ of the photographs that we have nowadays.
A daguerreotype is a photograph taken through a process utilizing a mercury vapor and an iodized-sensitized silvered plate. Its name came from a Frenchman, Louis Daguerre, who took a picture of a Parisian shining his shoe in 1838.
It was Daguerre himself who pioneered the process and the exposure time that his camera needs could last for fifteen minutes or more. Probably, that is the reason why the people before don’t usually smile in front of the camera.
Recently, based on the same report, two people found 18 daguerreotypes of the Philippines in a museum-cum-research library found at the lower Washington Heights area in New York City, the Hispanic Society of America.
Based on the report, it was in April 2007 when Rosina Herrera and Luisa Casella found something more worth noting than the other displays in the said museum. It was on the 7th floor of the structure when they get to discover the 18 daguerreotypes kept in a cabinet.
Those were daguerreotypes of Manila since the 1840s. The two found the old photographs kept in a cardboard box.
According to the report, the daguerreotypes found by Herrera and Casella showed the old views of Marikina, Laguna, and Manila. These preserved views might not have been seen before by the people.
Here are the 18 daguerreotypes of the Philippines:
