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Talbot, William Henry Fox
Talbot, William Henry Fox
Talbot, William Henry Fox
About the artist
Name
Talbot, William Henry Fox
Biography
Talbot was a pioneer of photography. Frustrated by his inability to sketch the scenery at Lake Como, he started experimenting in 1835, initially by placing objects directly on paper containing light-sensitive silver chloride, but later using the paper to produce camera negatives. This required very long exposure of the paper to light, but in 1840 he discovered that very short exposures produced an effect on his silver paper which could be developed by chemicals. He patented this process, known as the calotype, and used it for his series 'The Pencil of Nature'. Mass production of photographs proved difficult and Talbot's method had competition from Louis Daguerre. By 1858 he had developed a more stable process, photoglyphic engraving.
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