William Henry Fox Talbot and the birth of the photograph

Technology

We showcase Talbot's photos from as early as the 1830s and 40s, part of a new exhibition in London entitled The Dawn of Photography

By Simon Ings

6 April 2016

HE WAS a man of some accomplishments, but drawing eluded him. So while on honeymoon in Italy in 1833, William Henry Fox Talbot adopted the camera lucida, a tracing device, to help him sketch scenes. 鈥淭he idea occurred to me,鈥� he later wrote, 鈥渉ow charming it would be if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durably, and remain fixed upon the paper.鈥�

Although not the first to develop a photographic process (the Frenchman Louis Daguerre is usually handed those laurels), Talbot remains the godfather of the modern 鈥渁rt of fixing a shadow鈥�. His first photographs highlighted the precision and fine grain of the new medium. Later work is wittier and more domestic, as by then Talbot had developed photography as an art for everyone. His company in Reading, UK, mass-produced paper prints from his calotype negatives. It also made prints from others鈥� negatives, copied artwork and documents, and took portraits.

In 1934, Talbot鈥檚 niece Matilda passed on 6500 items of his to London鈥檚 Science Museum. From 14 April a new exhibition, Dawn of the Photograph, presents the best of these, including fragile early experiments in the art.