This book chronicles for the first time in a detailed fashion the critical days of the invention and development of photography. In particular it explores the relationship between two Englishmen who played a key role in photography's early years; the preeminent scientist Sir John Herschel and William Henry Fox Talbot, the artist and scientist who had invented his own photographic process years before Louis Daguerre announced his discovery in Paris in 1839. Drawing on hundreds of Herschel's and Talbot's letters, notebooks, and diaries, Larry J. Schaaf tells the story of the evolution of photography as expressed through their words, and in the process he sheds light on some questions over which others have puzzled. Given that the camera and the necessary chemistry had coexisted for years, why rather than how was photography invented? Why did Talbot keep his own photographic process secret until Daguerre's announcement? Why did Herschel make such fundamental contributions to the process of photography, yet take very few pictures himself? Who or what provided the visual training that allowed Talbot to grow into the first photographic artist? Schaaf skillfully describes the complexities of the events, the personalities and interests of the participants, the often vital role played by trivial circumstances, and the chaotic nature of the progress of photography. He narrates the rivalry between Talbot and Daguerre, showing how it mirrored the differences between France and Great Britain in their support of science and art. Enhanced by more than 100 reproductions in color and in duotone of some of the earliest photographs ever made, this book vividly re-creates both the invention of an art and the art of invention.
This 120-page publication Tracings of Light: Sir John Herschel & The Camera Lucida, by photo historian Larry J. Schaaf combines a substantial assessment of the camera lucida as a drawing tool with biographical information on Herschel, his counterparts, and their role in the development of photography.
Photography emerged in 1839 in two forms simultaneously. In France, Louis Daguerre produced photographs on silvered sheets of copper, while in Great Britain, William Henry Fox Talbot put forward a method of capturing an image on ordinary writing paper treated with chemicals. Talbot’s invention, a paper negative from which any number of positive prints could be made, became the progenitor of virtually all photography carried out before the digital age. Talbot named his perfected invention "calotype," a term based on the Greek word for beauty. Calotypes were characterized by a capacity for subtle tonal distinctions, massing of light and shadow, and softness of detail. In the 1840s, amateur photographers in Britain responded with enthusiasm to the challenges posed by the new medium. Their subjects were wide-ranging, including landscapes and nature studies, architecture, and portraits. Glass-negative photography, which appeared in 1851, was based on the same principles as the paper negative but yielded a sharper picture, and quickly gained popularity. Despite the rise of glass negatives in commercial photography, many gentlemen of leisure and learning continued to use paper negatives into the 1850s and 1860s. These amateurs did not seek the widespread distribution and international reputation pursued by their commercial counterparts, nearly all of whom favored glass negatives. As a result, many of these calotype works were produced in a small number of prints for friends and fellow photographers or for a family album. This richly illustrated, landmark publication tells the first full history of the calotype, embedding it in the context of Britain’s changing fortunes, intricate class structure, ever-growing industrialization, and the new spirit under Queen Victoria. Of the 118 early photographs presented here in meticulously printed plates, many have never before been published or exhibited.
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