Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1982, Qupperneq 150

DAGUERREOTÝPUR Á ÍSLANDl
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photographs are referred to there as sólmyndir (sunpictures). Later that name was only applied to
direct positives, such as daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, and Ijósmyndir (light pictures) became
the standard term for photographs on paper.
When the first Icelandic photographer Helgi Sigurðsson (1815—1888) returned to Iceland from
Copenhagen in 1846, very few Icelanders had even seen a photograph. In fact the social develop-
ment in Iceland differed fundamentally from its European counterparts. Urbanisation had
scarcely begun in 1850. Reykjavík had 639 inhabitants in 1835, 1149 in 1850 and 1444 in 1860,
Akureyri, the second largest town, had 56 inhabitants in 1835, 187 in 1850 and 218 in 1862, and
ísafjörður, the third largest town, had 37 inhabitants in 1835, 90 in 1850 and 218 in 1860.
All fundamental changes in class structure went hand in hand with the urbanisation and
industrialisation of the country. Even though farmers pursued fishing or various crafts, these
remained a side line.
Furthermore there was no tradition for portraiture in lceland, as in Europe, when photography
was first introduced. A few individuals had painted portraits, some of which had studied art, but
none of them could make a living out of it. The nation was living at a subsistence level and people
could simply not afford to have their picture painted or taken. When first introduced in lceland
photography thus could not build on a tradition in portraiture but had to create that tradition by
itself.
The aforenamed Helgi had learned to take daguerreotypes in Copenhagen after studying there,
among other, drawing at Kunstakademiet. Information on Helgi’s career as a photographer is
limited to two comic accounts of mishaps when he was photographing. It is therefore unknown to
what extent he practised the trade. No original daguerreotype taken by him exists but it is
plausible that a photograph of his father (fig. 3) is a copy of an original taken by Helgi. Helgi was
a farmer in Western Iceland till 1866 when he became a minister, a position he held till 1883.
The second lcelandic photographer was Siggeir Pálsson (1815—1866). Written accounts on his
career as a photographer are richer than in most cases due to the survival of two private archives
containing a number of letters from him. Siggeir learned to take daguerreotypes in Oslo while
working as an assistant to merchants trading in Iceland during the winter 1856—57. His teacher
was Carl Christian Wischmann. One finds it surprising that Siggeir chose to learn to take
daguerreotypes at a time when other simpler and cheaper photographic methods were becoming
dominant in the field. Siggeir seems mainly to have worked in the village Eskifjörður in Eastern
Iceland. There he took 5 daguerreotypes in 1857 after his return from Oslo and he continued to
take a few pictures the following summers. Various difficulties such as keeping the materials
protected from dampness were a problem to him as well as the purchase of new materials from
Copenhagen. According to his own account there were few people interested in having their
picture taken. The transport of all the equipment from one place to another proved such a hind-
rance that it was hardly worth the trouble for taking just one picture at each farm. ln 1862 Siggeir
became a minister, a position he held until his death in 1866.
By the time Siggeir gave up his career as a photographer in 1861 the trade was taking a new turn
for there were no less than three photographers working in Reykjavík during the summer of that
year.