Night window

As the daguerreotype returns to life, it recedes into the dark behind its protective glass. In the dark we are vouchsafed a glimpse of an image in flight from us toward the not seen.

Source: M. P. Simons, “Portrait of a Man,” 1846. Museum of Photographic Arts, accession number 1984.019.010. Online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mopa1/8136354655/