Skip ahead to 1839 and a man named Hippolyte Bayard (1801-1887) was next in line to create a useful technique for the technology behind photographs. Another Frenchman, amongst the many before him, Bayard devised a way to have images be placed directly on piece of paper. His process was relatively simple, a sheet of paper would be covered in a solution of silver chloride where it then would be blackened by light. After this, the paper is exposed to the camera device where a solution of silver iodide sensitizes the image. This exposure lasts roughly between 30 minutes to 2 hours. His friend, Jacques Mandé Daguerre, who invented the daguerrotype is known to have convinced Bayard to not submit his findings of his new inventive process of handling images. In 1840 however, he argued his case and this surge of passion for photography an be regarded as one of the first political-esque protests regarding the subject.

The corpse which you see here is that of M. Bayard, inventor of the process that has just been shown to you. As far as I know this indefatigable experimenter has been occupied for about three years with his discovery. The Government, which has been only too generous to Monsieur Daguerre, has said it can do nothing for Monsieur Bayard, and the poor wretch has drowned himself. Oh the vagaries of human life…! 

Hippolyte Bayard (http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/1840/hippolyte-bayard-french-1801-1887/)