Nicéphore Niépce was the partner and Isidore Niépce replaced him after his death in 1833.
DAGUERRE Louis Jacques Mande was a French artist and inventor, and one of the creators of photography. He developed (with the help of Niépce's experiments) the first practical relevant photography method - daguerrotypy (1839).
Daguerre was a customs official and later a scene-painter in opera. In 1822 he opened a diorama in Paris - a huge building with huge paintings in it. In the process of the creation and perfection of these paintings he was probably prompted to starting experiments in photography. He knew the camera obscura and used it to make sketches from nature for creating an illusion of reality in his diorama.
Daguerre did not invent photography (Niépce did that before him), but he made it practical and popular. In 1829 he negotiated a developmental contract with Niépce to develop the method of heliography. After 1829 and till his death in 1833 Niépce and his son Isidor, who became Daguerre's partner upon father's death, did not manage to develop their invention. But Daguerre, who worked independently, moved forward. His idea was to obtain an image on a bright surface of a silver plate sodden with iodide vapors, which made it photosensitive. He put the plate into a camera obscura, exposed, and developed with mercury vapors.
