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• 1 media/William Henry Fox Talbot.jpeg media/William Henry Fox Talbot.jpeg 2021-02-15T23:00:05+00:00 William Henry Fox Talbot's Calotype 19 By Aj Duff plain 2021-03-15T04:32:32+00:00

              By the 19th century, the photographic process had begun to develop in a variety of ways, from the camera obscura and daguerreotypes. A prominent inventory of photography was William Henry Fox Talbot, who eventually became known for inventing the calotype. From a bright upbringing and successful scientific career, his work alongside close friends proved to create incredibly successful photographic images that similar inventors partially overshadowed at the same time.[1] His scientific ambitions, coupled with strong influences from capitalism greatly paved the route for his discovery of his invention but also left him with many struggles.
              Talbot had a very privileged upbringing with close connections to elite circles of individuals in the science and politics realm. His two half-sisters pushed their artistic influence onto him and his sister Caroline’s position as lady-in-waiting to the Queen helped strengthen his connection to royalty in Dorset. He was a gifted and eager student who attended Trinity College, being awarded for many different things and took a large interest in botanical studies.  He was incredibly inclined in many subjects as mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, botany, philosophy, Egyptology, and art history.[2] His mother traveled frequently and this helped him broaden his education and studies. His entry into experimentation with light-sensitive chemicals can be traced back to his relationship with John Herschel which sparked a friendship and paved the way for his invention of the calotype. Herschel introduced Talbot to David Brewster, a Scottish natural philosopher. Their research began to overlap quite frequently, and they established an extraordinarily close friendship that brought the calotype to life.[3]
              His life was filled with accomplishments prior to his breakthrough in which he would become known for. In 1831, Talbot was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society which helped him gain even more connections to the scientific world and opened doors for him. Additionally, he was elected into parliament as a reform candidate for Chippenham and married Candace Mundy.[4]
              His ambitions were quite interesting, as it was a breakthrough moment for him when he realized what he wanted to attempt to do. It all happened when he was visiting Italy sitting on the shores of Lake Como, attempting to sketch the scenery around him. He became frustrated as he could not capture the scenery around him in a way that felt truly representational and he was left with only “paper melancholy to behold.” A quote that stands out and provides context to his ambition as it pushed him to:

  reflect on the inimitable beauty of the pictures of nature’s painting which the glass lens of the Camera throws upon the paper in its focus—fairy pictures, creations of a moment, and destined as rapidly to fade away … the idea occurred to me … how charming it would be if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durably, and remain fixed upon the paper.[5]

  
              In the spring of 1834, he began to work and experiment to see if he could produce photographic images. He began by coating regular writing paper with washes of table salt and silver nitrate in order to create a light-sensitive silver chloride that could be used to create photographs. He used a leaf initially that produced a silhouetted image on the paper as it was fully opaque. After this, he began experimenting with the idea of creating multiple copies from a single negative. The term “negative” was a term devised by Herschel, among many other terms he later coined. What’s most astonishing was his secrecy about his discovery. Despite developing something so groundbreaking, he was weary to share it with the public, and the knowledge of his new invention stayed within his family. He strived to improve his invention before creating any sort of publication.[6]
              Views of modernity and capitalism fueled his discovery and development of the photographic technique. From the very discovery of realizing that he could produce multiple prints from one negative, he saw a lucrative idea that could become commercial. Trouble arose for Talbot and Daguerre revealed his own version of the photographic image that shifted all the attention away from him. Daguerre was met with immense support from the French government while Talbot was paid dust by his government.[7] They didn’t see him as a valuable asset as all of his work was believed to be done, and ultimately they would not be able to make money off of his inventions they believed. Despite all of this, Talbot was determined to improve his process and find a way to make it more practical. Then, in September of 1840, he created what is now known as the calotype. In this process, he used an incredibly short exposure that lasted only seconds that gave an invisible effect on his silver paper. From here, he used a chemical developed to create a fully realized negative.  He knew that his photogenic drawings were great for scientific records, but knew that creating a quicker and more accurate production of images was the golden ticket for success.[8] In order to protect his work from being reproduced and knocked off, he patented this discovery.[9]
              Capitalism fueled the development of this process as he rapidly began selling his serial titled The Pencil of Nature.  It was filled with original prints and was meant to showcase the potential of the photographic image. This venture only proved to be a disaster. There were many variables that affected the quality of the print and the stability of the silver-based photos was impossible to control. However, this idea as using photographic prints in publication was something that he pioneered. Today, every publication uses photographs and many critics today believe he was ahead of his time in attempting to try and do this on his own. Unfortunately, his project, The Pencil of Nature, was discontinued after only issuing twenty-four prints[10].
              Besides his failed venture in mass photographic publications, his patented proved to be more troublesome than helpful. Despite many patents, none of them became lucrative and his reason for patenting most things arose from the competition he was facing back in 1839. Many wealthy individuals found his patents to serve as an impediment and they resented him for it. It led to him being attacked in print and people began questioning if he even truly invented the calotype, claiming that he was merely appropriating previous scientific work[11].
              Overall, Talbot was a pioneer in the invention of photography, the mass-production of photographic images, and the negative-positive process. He was a gifted student with close connections and friendships that helped him get to his major discovery. However, he was met with troubles from patenting issues, mass publication issues, and troubles maintaining consistent image quality. His scientific knowledge fueled his ambitions to create a photograph and became an “artist” along the way.  Views of modernity and capitalism heavily influenced his discovery from the desire to mass-produce his images and sell them to the public, and the lack of support from his government during the time.
   

   

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  ^[1] Larry J. Schaaf, "Biography: William Henry Fox Talbot," The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, September 23, 2004, accessed February 22, 2021, https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/talbot/biography/)

  ^[2] Malcom Daniel, "William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) and the Invention of Photography," The Met, October 2004, accessed February 20, 2021, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tlbt/hd_tlbt.htm)

  ^[3]  Larry J. Schaaf, "Biography: William Henry Fox Talbot," The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, September 23, 2004, accessed February 22, 2021, https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/talbot/biography/)
   

  ^[4]  Larry J. Schaaf, "Biography: William Henry Fox Talbot," The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, September 23, 2004, accessed February 22, 2021, https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/talbot/biography/)

  ^[5]  Larry J. Schaaf, "Biography: William Henry Fox Talbot," The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, September 23, 2004, accessed February 22, 2021, https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/talbot/biography/)
   

  ^[6]  Larry J. Schaaf, "Biography: William Henry Fox Talbot," The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, September 23, 2004, accessed February 22, 2021, https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/talbot/biography/)

  ^[7]  Larry J. Schaaf, "Biography: William Henry Fox Talbot," The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, September 23, 2004, accessed February 22, 2021, https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/talbot/biography/)

  ^[8]  Malcom Daniel, "William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) and the Invention of Photography," The Met, October 2004, accessed February 20, 2021, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tlbt/hd_tlbt.htm)

  ^[9]  Larry J. Schaaf, "Biography: William Henry Fox Talbot," The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, September 23, 2004, accessed February 22, 2021, https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/talbot/biography/)
   

  ^[10]  Larry J. Schaaf, "Biography: William Henry Fox Talbot," The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, September 23, 2004, accessed February 22, 2021, https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/talbot/biography/)

  ^[11]  Larry J. Schaaf, "Biography: William Henry Fox Talbot," The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, September 23, 2004, accessed February 22, 2021, https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/talbot/biography/)