After a career in theatrical spectacle (he was responsible for the Paris and London dioramas, and had been a scene-painter for the Paris Opera), Daguerre joined with Niépce to develop the first permanent form of photography. Morse, who met Daguerre in Paris, may or may not have taken the process back with him, but was one of the first to make daguerrotypes in North America. Arago got government funding for Daguerre and Niépce’s work thus allowing the technique to be made public, though the latter had by then died.