Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre began investigating the possibilities of copying an image from nature using sunlight and chemicals in the early 1820s and entered into a partnership in 1829 with Nicéphore Niépce, who was also experimenting with similar concepts. Daguerre made the first successful daguerreotype in 1837, four years after Niépce's death. In the summer of 1839 the French government agreed to pay Daguerre along with Niépce's son a pension for their lifetimes in exchange for patent rights to the daguerreotype process and then immediately transferred the rights into the public domain. Once the secret procedures and chemical formulas were made known, the need for users to pay royalties or license fees to Daguerre was eliminated, causing a great rush by opportunity seekers. The situation was very different across the Channel, where licensing fees still had to be paid to William Henry Fox Talbot for the right to use his processes. Similarly, in order to use Daguerre's process in England, a licensing fee had to be paid to entrepreneur Richard Beard, who had the sole patent rights for daguerreotypes in England, Wales, and the British colonies. (84.XT.266.14)
引自 Getty Museum
在畫面的中央有個廣告牌寫著法語「ETRENNES DAGUERREOTYPIENNES POUR 1840」，經翻譯後譯文是1840年的新年禮物——達蓋爾法攝影術。畫中的廣告牌文字，也是這幅畫要體現的內容與主題，達蓋爾攝影術的出現也是對畫家這一職業帶來一定的影響。觀察畫中的建築大門上掛著，「SANS SOLEIL!」 不需要陽光「EPREUVE RETOURNÉE」厲害的實驗「13 minutes」13分鐘，等標語都是那時代所流行的。在畫面的左邊可以觀察到有位雜技團團員正在表演，在下面的觀眾部分用雙眼看表演，部分用望眼鏡為在表演的團員緊張。此外，也能觀察到畫中的攝影師正利用攝影技術捕捉精彩的表演畫面。正是攝影術的發明與出現，人們將眼前精彩的表演畫面定格下來。在畫右能看到「APPAREIL POUR LES PORTRAITS DAGUERREOTYPES」根據翻譯的意思為，達蓋爾人像攝影設備，並且還能觀察到後面有很多人在等著拍肖像以及購買器材。攝影術比繪畫更加真實化，並且也能讓人們感覺更新穎、更獨特的視覺體驗。
