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• Issue #226
• Article

By Alex Novak

I sent out a special email blast on joining the Daguerreian Society on July 18th. In true Murphy's Law fashion, the Society's website and processing capacity went down for the first time ever for over a day with a dead router problem right after I dropped that email. A few of you did get through (at least partially in one case), and the Society and I thank you for your patience and membership.

For anyone else who tried and couldn't get through, please give us another chance and try again now. For those of you who either missed that email or didn't get a chance yet to check out membership and all the Society's wonderful publications and programs, please consider membership in this fine non-profit organization that is the last such international group reaching out to collectors, curators, dealers, conservators/scientists, photographers using antiquarian processes, and any lover of 19th-century photography. I have been a member for two decades now and it's been one of my most valued experiences.

Over the last two years I joined the board and have volunteered to help the Society build its membership and relaunch its annual conference and show (this year with over 100 photo dealers from nine countries) to help build both into the largest such events in the world.

The group's October program of events this year about 19th-century photography and processes are certainly the most important anywhere. Simply put, if you have an interest at all in that area, or even if you are interested in contemporary art photography using such approaches, you just can't afford to miss this week from Oct. 10-23 in New York City. Details on the program and registration are here: http://www.daguerre.org/news/262207/Save-These-Dates-for-19th-century-Photography-Conference-and-Show-Oct.-19-23-2016-in-NYC.htm.

The Annual membership rates in the Society are usually only $100 for U.S. and $125 for Non-U.S. voting members, although this rate can vary for the types of members from a low of $65 for students to other higher financial levels of membership support and the benefits for that support. Going through the registration process will guide you to the most appropriate membership type and level for your personal situation. You will have the ability to choose the correct one for yourself well before paying. You have many options to pay, including most credit cards, PayPal and by electronic check. Members can often save the cost of membership with special member rates on the Society's programs, shows, dealer exhibit costs, etc.

Sign up for membership here: 
https://daguerre.site-ym.com/general/register_member_type.asp?.

The Daguerreian Society is a tax-exempt, non-profit 501(c)3 organization that supports all 19th-century photography and its processes.

Novak has over 48 years experience in the photography-collecting arena. He is a long-time member and formally board member of the Daguerreian Society, and, when it was still functioning, he was a member of the American Photographic Historical Society (APHS). He organized the 2016 19th-century Photography Show and Conference for the Daguerreian Society. He is also a long-time member of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers, or AIPAD. Novak has been a member of the board of the nonprofit Photo Review, which publishes both the Photo Review and the Photograph Collector, and is currently on the Photo Review's advisory board. He was a founding member of the Getty Museum Photography Council. He is author of French 19th-Century Master Photographers: Life into Art.

Novak has had photography articles and columns published in several newspapers, the American Photographic Historical Society newsletter, the Photograph Collector and the Daguerreian Society newsletter. He writes and publishes the E-Photo Newsletter, the largest circulation newsletter in the field. Novak is also president and owner of Contemporary Works/Vintage Works, a private photography dealer, which sells by appointment and has sold at exhibit shows, such as AIPAD New York and Miami, Art Chicago, Classic Photography LA, Photo LA, Paris Photo, The 19th-century Photography Show, Art Miami, etc.