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About Mike
Dr. Mike Robinson is an artist-practitioner, teacher, conservator, and historian of the daguerreotype process. In June 2017 he earned his PhD in Photographic History with a dissertation titled The Techniques and Material Aesthetics of the Daguerreotype. He has researched and written on the studio practice of Southworth and Hawes for the Young America catalog and for The Daguerreian Society Annual. Mike taught graduate and undergraduate courses in 19th Century Photographic Processes at Ryerson University in Toronto, and has lectured and taught daguerreotype workshops in Toronto, Rochester, New York City, Lacock Abbey UK, Bry-sur-Marne France, and Kolomna Russia.
Mike’s daguerreotypes are in the collections of The Portrait Gallery of Canada, The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum, The Carnegie-Mellon, The Snite Museum, The Fox Talbot Museum, The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography, Musée Metienne, and The Russian Museum of Photography. Mike is also the President of Daguerreian Society, an international organization dedicated to the art, scholarship and preservation of the daguerreotype.
Artist Collection: Mike-Robinson
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Dr. Mike Robinson is an artist and historian specializing in the daguerreotype process, with his remarkable works housed in esteemed collections, including The Portrait Gallery of Canada and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a modern master of this unique photographic art form, he captures the essence of beauty through one-of-a-kind daguerreotypes, combining exceptional technical skill with timeless artistry. His fine art in the daguerreotype medium stands as a testament to the extraordinary image quality and permanence that can be achieved, inspiring a deep appreciation for this remarkable craft.
The full extent of human vision in a landscape is roughly a 140 degree angle of view. Lenses in the 1840s could not capture the full sphere of human perception within their field of view. To achieve this, Martens created a unique camera where the daguerreotype was exposed while curved to match the focal length of the available lens as it rotated from one side of the plate to the other. The camera no longer exists, it is only known through woodcut illustrations, text descriptions and the patent specification.
Mike Robinson
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Tunnel View - Late Afternoon
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Valley Gates
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Tahiti Beach - Three Brothers
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Tahiti Beach - El Capitan
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Half Dome, 2025
More About Mike Robinson
Education
PhD in Photographic History, The Techniques and Material Aesthetics of the Daguerreotype
Photographic History Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester
2017
Exhibitions
Exposition Daguerre, le Génie de l'image, Villa Daguerre, Bry-sur-Marne, France November 22 - December 9, 2018.
Red Light, Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto ON, May 2 - June 29, 2018
Photography in its Birthplace, Fox Talbot Museum, UK, Sept 2017 - January 2018
Mirrors with Memory: Daguerreotypes from Library and Archives Canada National Gallery of Canada, Sept. 2015 - April 2016.
Image Object, Penumbra Foundation, NYC 2013
The Art Gallery of Ontario, Photography Galleries, Toronto, ON, 2008 - 2012
Exposition " Vanité, Mort, que me veux-tu ? " YSL Gallery, Paris, France, 2010
The Philippe de Montebello Years, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY Oct. 2008 - Feb. 2009
Daguerréotypes contemporains internationaux et Diorama de Bry-sur-Marne, Bry-sur-Marne France, 2009
The Intimate Gaze, Campbell House Museum, Toronto ON, May 2009
Daguerreian Niche, The Daguerreian Society, Pittsburgh, PA, September 2005
History in the Making, The Ryerson Gallery, Toronto, ON, May 2004
Secret Victorians, The Museum of Photographic Art, San Diego, CA, March 2003
Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, June 2002
Mirror with a Memory, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO, November 2001
Published Works
Topics in Photographic Preservation 2015 A Twin Paradox: A Study of Preservation and Disfigurement of Southworth and HawesDaguerreotypes
The Daguerreian Annual, 2014 Sterling C. McIntyre’s Panoramic Views of San Francisco
The Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 2010 Monitoring the photographic process, degradation and restoration of 21st century Daguerreotypes by wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry
The Daguerreian Annual, 2007 The Southworth and Hawes Studio: a virtual tour of their Operating Room
Young America; The Daguerreotypes of Southworth and Hawes, 2005 Article A Style Peculiar to Themselves: an investigation into the techniques of Southworth and Hawes
Coming into Focus, 2001 Albumen and salted paper chapter for the textbook on alternative photographic processes
The Daguerreian Annual, 2000 The Making of 20 Daguerreotypes
Lectures and Workshops
Villa Daguerre, Bry-sur-Marne, France, 2018
SMP International Photo Conservation Studio, Genzano di Roma, Italy, 2018
The Museum of Organic Culture, Kolomna, Russia, 2017
Penumbra Foundation, New York, 2016-2019
Lacock Abbey, Fox Talbot Museum 2011 - 2019
The George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, 1997 - 2015
AIC Photo Materials Group, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 2015
Daguerreotype housing workshop, Amherst College, MA, 2010
The Daguerreian Society Annual Symposium, 1997 - 2015
Mellon Collaborative Workshop in Daguerreotype Conservation at Harvard, 2009
Peter’s Valley Craft Centre, Layton, NJ, 2008 - 2010
Aperture Foundation, New York, NY, 2006
f295 Symposium, Pittsburgh, PA, 2007
McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA, 2005
Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN, 2004
The Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX, 2004
The National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, ON, 2003 - 2004
The Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO, 2001
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Explore Mike's Artwork
Mike Robinson
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Tunnel View - Late Afternoon
Mike Robinson
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Valley Gates
Mike Robinson
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Tahiti Beach - Three Brothers
Mike Robinson
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Tahiti Beach - El Capitan
Mike Robinson
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Half Dome, 2025
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Tunnel View - Midday Yosemite
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Gates of the Valley Yosemite
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Olmstead Point
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Merced River Yosemite
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Niagara Falls
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Niagara Falls from Prospect Point
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Lacock Villiage
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Bethesda Fountain, New York
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New York - View from Penumbra
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Soldier’s Tower - University of Toronto
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Tree at Bill’s Place - Michigan
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Winter - Toronto