Daguerreotype
Morse met the inventor of the daguerreotype, Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, in Paris in January 1839 when Daguerre's invention was announced [2]. While the daguerreotype fascinated Morse, he was concerned about how the new invention would compete with his telegraph. However, Morse's viewing of the daguerreotype alleviated his fears when he saw how revolutionary its technology was. Morse wrote a letter to his brother Sidney describing Daguerre's invention, which Sidney then published in the New-York Observer on April 20, 1839. While this was not the first report of the daguerreotype to appear in America, it was the first in-person report to appear in the United States.
John Jabez Edwin Mayall
Six nations: the United States, England, France, Italy, Germany and Austria exhibited 700 daguerrotypes in a special section of the Great Exhibition devoted to Daguerreotypes and Calotypes. It is considered the first international photography competition. Mayall exhibited 72 daguerreotypes in the photographic section and he received an Honourable Mention in the jury's official report on the photographic exhibits. Three of the five medals awarded to daguerreotypes went to the Americans Mathew Brady, Martin M. Lawrence and John Adams Whipple.