William Henry Fox Talbot

Schaaf 4610

Few figures occupy a more foundational position in the history of photography than William Henry Fox Talbot, the English scientist, scholar, and inventor who introduced the calotype process to the world in 1841 and established the negative-positive system that would define photography for more than a century. The present sensitive portrait depicts one of Talbot's daughters, believed to be Ela Theresa Talbot, and was created during the most innovative and consequential years of his career. Made circa 1842-44 when Talbot was first actively exploring the possibilities of the camera, he turned his lens toward his family at Lacock Abbey, producing intimate portraits that stand apart from his better-known views of architecture, botanical specimens, and still life. Portraits of Ela are rare, with surviving examples recorded in The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné in the collection of the National Science and Media Museum and a private collection.