The piece shown above is by Takashi Arai, and is called “A Maquette for a Multiple Monument for B29:Bockscar”, 2014 Daguerreotype, 73 x 220 cm.
As mentioned in the description of the piece, Takashi used the daguerreotype technique to capture the images in iodized silver plated copper. What really is marvelous about this specific piece is the sheer scale it boasts. Most daguerreotypes are relatively small, commonly being pocket sized. However, Takashi was able to painstakingly take daguerreotypes of the entire bomber that dropped the atomic bombs in Japan and piece the results together as one massive daguerreotype mosaic. The amount of effort put into crafting this was no doubt impressive. In order to create a piece like this, where each daguerreotype ends where the other begins, he would have had to painstakingly calculate each and every camera placement angle for the 352 daguerreotype plates this piece consists of, and that’s not even including the effort to redo shots that were ruined or didn’t come out quite right. Furthermore, its also interesting to note that Takashi chose to photograph the bomber Bockscar, which, like the daguerreotype, has been outdated for quite some time now. Perhaps a parallel can be drawn between the plane and daguerreotype in the sense that both have lived a similar fate of being relevant and current in their respective decades, but have quickly been shoved aside and forgotten about in light of newer or cheaper technology.
