Universal Spirit. 14 From that moment up until the formal presentation of the daguerreotype in Paris in 1839, photography changed not only our perception and way of seeing things but also our affective and spiritual relationship with the images. Photographic portraits of our loved ones are objects of the magic order inserted into our daily lives. If we have any doubt , let us take a look at who we carry with us in our wallets.
published in: El Año Nuevo. Periódico Semanario de Literatura, Ciencias y Variedades, Mexico: vol. 1, 1865, p. 153. 2 Broder , J . Shadows on Glass: the Indian World of Ben Wittick , Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1990, p. 24. 3Jackson, W . H. Time Exposure. The Autobiography of Wil/iam Henry Jackson , New Mexico: UNM, 1986, p. 226. • Broder , J. op. cit . p. 36 . Author 's citation from: G. Wickstrom, "The Town Crier: Valuable Pioneer Pictures May Repose in Home of Famous Photogra pher ' s Son ", Rock ........~~:. Island Argus, July 1942. 5 Robotham , T . Native Americans in Early Photographs , Californ ia : Thunder Bay Press, 1994, p. 12. • Lumholtz , C . Unknown Mexico. Explorations in the Sierra Madre and Other Regions, 1890- 1898, vol. 11. New York: Dover Publication, 1987, p. 51 . 7 Practice invented by the Austrian doctor Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), which induced an hypnotic state in a person under
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1 "Mándame tu retrato", poem by Dolores Guerrero
the influence,
nervous system of anofalthe will and other, so known as animal magnetismo Once awakened from the trance, this person would describe the experience as a "separation of the soul from the
140
body". One of the first criticisms of these sessions was written by J .M. Ramírez in : "Las ilusiones son de todos los tiempos", El Año Nuevo ... , op. cit ., pp . 258261 . 6 This "spirit" may be observed in the popular publications of the Calendario de la Madre Matiana de 1857, illustrated with pictures of a "magical review" that en joyed much success in Mexico and Spain ; the Calendario Mágico y de Suertes , with parlor games, in the 1863, 1864 and 1865 editions ; or the Calendario de Duendes y Aparecidos de 1865, illustrated with tales . For a study of these and other calendars see: 1. Quiñonez,. Mexicanos en su tinta : calendarios, Mexico: INAH, 1994. 9 L 'Estafette des deu x Mondes , Mexico, Mardi 1er Octobre, 1861. 10 González y González, L. La magia de la Nueva España, "Ilustración y magia" , Obras Completas. Vol. 111, México: Clío-EI Colegio Nacional, 1996, pp. 77-78. 11 Barthes , R. La cámara lúcida, Madrid: Paidós, 1991 , p. 183. 12 González y González, L., op. cit., p. 80. 13 Jurado, C. El arte de la aprehensión de las imá genes y el unicornio , México: UNAM, 1974, pp. 18-27. 14 Newhall, B. The History of Photography. New York : MOMA, 1982, p. 10.