The Daguerreotype

From the maybe-not-factual wikipedia:
"The daguerreotype is one of the earliest types of photograph in which the image is exposed directly onto a mirror-polished surface of silver bearing a coating of silver halide particles deposited by iodine vapor. In later developments bromine and chlorine vapors were also utilized, resulting in shorter exposure times. Unlike later photographic processes that supplanted it, the daguerreotype is a direct positive image making process with no "negative" original."

I would love to experiment with an archaic photographic process like this or it's successors (ferrotype, calotype etc. . ) They have an extremely creepy quality. I'm sure that the mercury vapor would not be very good for me, however.