Revelations & Representations

27 May 2016: “H. F. Talbot, photogr: 1839” How do you take something in a totally new visual medium and express it through an existing and familiar form of communication? This was the dilemma suddenly faced by journal editors in early 1839. Daguerre’s announcement surprised everyone but it would be some time before anyone in Britain had a …

Harold White – Photographer, Scholar, Collector, Restorer

20 May 2016: Harold White (1902-1983) was the foremost Talbot scholar of his generation and in many ways shaped subsequent research in this field. A highly accomplished professional photographer, his 1949 endorsement of the ‘Nebro’ tripod would have carried more than sixteen stones of weight with his colleagues and must have contributed to its sales. He was a …

The Mysterious Agency of Natural Chemistry

13 May 2016: Published in 1844, “Part of Queen’s College, Oxford” was the very first plate in the first number of The Pencil of Nature. The Spectator complimented the documentary power of photography, noting that the plate illustrated “the abraded surface of the stone front with a strikingly real effect.” The Literary Gazette echoed this thought: “the time-worn …

David Kinnebrook – Calotypist & Sheep Farmer

6 May 2016: Good news! Earlier in the week I reluctantly reported that The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot was having major indigestion. I am happy to say that thanks to the efforts of De Montfort’s staff, the site is functional once again. And thanks to our readers for your patience and interest. Please report any future …

Talbot Correspondence Website – down but not out

2 May 2016: A number of you have contacted me in the course of the last fortnight, worried about being unable to use some or any of the features of The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot. May I take this occasion to thank you for your patience and understanding (and for the generally temperate comments – those …