This Natural Museum of American History handout image received 29 October 2007 shows a Hillotype of a print depicting a girl and sheep- where natural colors are apparent on this plate- no chemical elements uniform were detected.The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH), the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), and the Getty Foundation have teamed up to examine a
156 year-old mystery that remains, to this day, one of the most controversial questions in photography – and their research has revealed some rather surprising results. One of the earliest forms of photography, the daguerreotype, is named after French artist and chemist Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, who invented the process in 1839. Daguerreotype photography spread rapidly across the United States and just 11 years later, the Rev. Levi Hill of Westkill, NY, claimed for the first time to have invented a way to produce naturally colored daguerreotypes, or Hillotypes, as they became known. When Hill refused to release the details of his process until a patent was filed, the profession denounced him as a fraud. In 156 years, no definitive evidence has been presented to suggest that Hill was or was not an imposter, until now. Using state-of-the-art technology, the 62 Hillotypes acquired by the Smithsonian in 1933 from Hill’s son-in-law, John Boggs Garrison, finally gave up their secrets. Examination of a number of the Hillotypes by GCI scientists and curators from the SmithsonianÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩs photography collection have confirmed that Hill was indeed a genius – he did discover a method to create several natural colors in his photographs. AFP PHOTO/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY/SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM/HO/ RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE /NO SALES =GETTY OUT= (Photo credit should read HO/AFP/Getty Images)