Presence & Absence

Presence & Absence surveys the daguerreotypes of Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah Johnson Hawes in mid-to-late 19th century America. The images illustrate both the life cycle of the daguerreotype, as well as that of their human subjects. I paired the images with text that discusses the responsibility of daguerreotypists to capture the essence of their subjects, rendering them fully present in the print.