Different effects of the stage-lighting on the scenery he painted for the Opéra may have inspired Louis Daguerre to experiment with early photographic methods using sunlight on metal plates. The rights to his daguerreotype process, once perfected, were assigned to the French Academy of Sciences. Daguerre was appointed an officer in the Legion of Honour.

A daguerreotype of the Hiller family, made in about 1885. The daguerreotype produced a photographic image by using a thin sheet of silver-plated copper that had been treated to make the silver light-sensitive. An exposure took from 5 to 40 minutes, which accounts for the stern looks of many of the early sitters.