John Quincy Adams - the Enhanced Daguerreotypes

The Original Daguerreotypes

John Quincy Adams sat for photographer Philip Haas in 1843 that resulted in three daguerreotypes being produced.¹ The first, shown below-left, is the well-known historical image of JQA. The second, on the right, was given by Adams to Congressman Horace Everett and remained hidden within the Everett family lost to history until it resurfaced in 2017 when a direct descendant put it up for auction with Sotheby’s. The third daguerreotype remains unaccounted for.

Left: 1843 daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams. Right: The "lost and found" daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams

Below are up close views of the before and after colorized and enhanced daguerreotypes.

Before and after close up of John Quincy Adams daguerreotype

The "Lost and Found" Daguerreotype

The following before and after image is the "lost but found" daguerreotype of Adams.

Before and after close up of John Quincy Adams daguerreotype

Since the second Adams daguerreotype has more blur, the AI has to interpret data that is not there; thus, the rendering of Adams' eyes does not appear correct. The AI is making its best guess as to what Adams' eyes looked like. In the images below, the top image shows the untouched original. The 2nd image shows the eyes as the AI renders them. The third image shows my Photoshop adjustments to make the eyes look more like the original or at least how I think the AI should have rendered them.