Daguerre Memorial

The Daguerre Memorial is a bronze and granite sculpture in Washington, D.C., honoring Louis Daguerre, the inventor of photography. Created by Jonathan Scott Hartley, the work was originally unveiled in 1890 at the Arts and Industries Building and was later moved to the grounds outside what is now the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. The statue, which stands about 11 feet (3.4 meters) tall and was reinstalled in 1989 for the 150th anniversary of photography, bears inscriptions celebrating photography as one of the three great discoveries of the era, alongside the electric telegraph and the steam engine. You can see the memorial on 7th Street N.W., right next to major art collections.