An opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues, deepen relationships, learn, socialize and celebrate accomplishments while sharing a common passion. Photos by Carlos Vertanessian. 

This is your once-a-year chance to reconnect with old friends and colleagues…and to make new connections with other people who understand the all-out thrill of sharing great photographic images from the past…people who share the way you feel about the vivid, time-travel experiences offered by 19th-century photography.

Audience members engage with leading authorities on 19th-century photography.  Photo by Carlos Vertanessian

Here are some of the events that you'll enjoy when you participate in Houston 2024:

• A festive opening reception for attendees only, right at the MFA, Houston
• Talks by expert speakers presenting important discoveries and new research, showing seldom-seen images and offering new insights into photography’s beginnings
• A photo fair with veteran dealers and newcomers offering more daguerreotypes and 19th-century photographs than can be seen anywhere. Buy, sell, trade, or just look and learn – it’s an opportunity that only comes along once a year.
• A grand banquet with a live auction and silent auction featuring exceptional images
• Room-hopping to catch up with friends and see what’s on the market
• And behind-the-scenes viewings of photography collections at leading cultural institutions, led by their curators
  
  

Behind-the-scenes viewings provide rare access to museum-quality images and experts.  Photos by David S. Fondiller and Carlos Vertanessian

Registrants gain early access to the Photo Fair before it opens to the public.  Photos by Carlos Vertanessian, David S. Fondiller and Jo Ann Krauss

Block out the time on your calendar…then register for the Symposium…and make your room reservation for a stay at our official host hotel, the InterContinental Houston, at a special rate (reserve early for the special rate as rooms are limited).

Members who register early save $. So what are you waiting for?? See you in Houston!

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where Thursday’s opening reception and Friday's talks will be held, and Malcolm Daniel, the museum's cuator of photography and a longtime Daguerreian Society member.

Behind-the-Scenes Institution Visits

Our lineup of museum and institution visits is shaping up nicely. Malcolm Daniel, curator of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - our host institution - will offer several private viewings of the museum's 19th-century photographic treasures. Among its daguerreotype holdings:

• a whole plate of statesman Sam Houston by the Meade Brothers, taken in 1851
• a whole-plate still life by Daguerre’s assistant Alphonse Eugène Hubert 
• an early Paris view by Vincent Chevalier
• a recently acquired portrait of Stanislas Ratel by Choiselat. 
  

In addition, Curt Robbins, a local member and sponsor of this year's Symposium, is working with Michelle Delaney to organize visits to Houston's San Jacinto Museum & Battlefield, where Texas won its independence, and the Rosenberg Library in Galveston.

• Curt and the San Jacinto Museum are planning a joint exhibition of 19th-century photography that will draw on Curt's 600+-item collection of Galveston images and the museum's Texas collection. 
• The Rosenberg Library has an extensive 19th-century photograph collection and is home to many important images, such as a daguerreotype of Gail Borden, the inventor of condensed milk, and his son; Civil War images; many early Galveston and Texas outdoor scenes; and photographs by prolific Galveston photographer Justus Zahn. 

Photo Fair

The Daguerreian Society Photo Fair will be held on Saturday, October 19, 2024 in the Live Oak Ballroom of the InterContinental Houston, 6750 Main Street, Houston, TX. It is open to Symposium attendees as well as the public.

Symposium attendees and members: 9 am early admission. Entry cost ($10) included with conference registration.

General admission: 10 am - 4 pm, $10. 

Registration

Registration is open via the website here. By registering, you receive all the program highlights mentioned above. Further details will follow in emails and Daguerreian Society Quarterly issues.

A summary of the registration options is as follows. Early registration ends September 17.