The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot [Hardcover]

Larry J. Schaaf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 2000

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) is best remembered as the scientist who invented photography. Others had tried recording the images projected by a lens, but Talbot was the first to grasp the physical basis for realizing this dream and to conceive of a practical means for fixing these ephemeral images permanently onto a sheet of paper. But Talbot's considerable technical achievements have often overshadowed his growth as an artist. Larry Schaaf examines this artistic growth by bringing together for the first time high quality reproductions of one hundred photographs representing the full sweep of Talbot's work. These beautiful images are not only records of scientific triumphs, but also the evidence of the first steps in shaping a totally new type of vision.

A classicist, physicist, and mathematician by training, Talbot originally viewed his new invention as a means of visual documentation, particularly of the botanical specimens he loved so dearly. But gradually his new technology taught him to see, and the growth of Talbot's personal vision defined the beginnings of modern photography. The resulting corpus of work ranged from seminal early images rich in primal beauty to later, fully sophisticated photographs. Illuminating these images with excerpts from Talbot's own writings and those of his contemporaries, this book is a visual celebration of the early days of photography.

The one hundred plates are reproduced in the actual size of the originals and in all the subtle colors that comprised Talbot's early work. They range from Talbot's Lilliputian pre-1839 negatives (made in "mousetrap" cameras) through botanical photograms to mid-1840s calotypes that demonstrate a sure command of the new art. Each plate is discussed in detail, drawing on important new research conducted by the author.

Published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Talbot's birth, The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot will not only deepen our understanding of early photography but will also serve as an important archive for those who may never have the pleasure to witness firsthand these rare and fragile works. As such, this beautifully produced book is an essential addition to the library of anyone who collects, studies, and admires photography.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Photography is such a constant in our culture that we've forgotten that years ago it must have seemed more like magic than art, science, or craft. The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot brings us back to the spectacular moment of wonder when photography was first invented. Talbot, born 200 years ago, was a successful mathematician and frustrated draftsman when he invented photography out of his personal desire to make more realistic drawings. He saw his new process as a way for nature to make her own perfect pictures.

Talbot first experimented with salts of silver that produced sun-darkened shadows of objects placed on paper. Many experiments later, he realized that negatives could be reversed, and was eventually able to produce multiple prints. Apart from the brilliance of his invention, the images that Talbot captured are beautiful and mysterious. Softer than modern photography, these pictures look like paintings: gentle leaves, breath-taking sunlight glowing through windows, negatives of intricate lace, reproductions of paintings, and posed pictures of family. Talbot varied the size of his images, making tiny prints from boxes he called mousetraps (a mouselike perspective on the world) to larger landscape portraits. The magic resonates with a thoughtfulness that may have resulted from the slow process of early image-making. How amazing it must have been, seeing and creating the world on paper for the very first time. Aside from the spectacular pictures, the text covers Talbot's life and his experimental processes, and each of the 100 images is given its own explanatory text. --J.P. Cohen

Review

Talbot . . . brings an understated acumen to the selections. (Publishers Weekly )

Lavish and scholarly. . . . A definitive collection. . . . (Geoff Dyer The Independent )

As spectacular a homage to an inventor of photography . . . [an] exquisitely designed and produced volume. . . (New York Times Book Review )

Simply splendid. . . . The selection of 100 full-color, beautifully printed images is flawless. (Anne Horton Art and Auction )

This book is not only about Talbot the inventor, but Talbot the sensitive artist (Meir Ronnen The Jerusalem Post )

This book would be a wonderful addition to the library of anyone interested in the history of photography. (Maine Antique Digest )

. . . there is a great range of colours and tones within the prints. . . . [S]ubtly creating the softest of images. (Philippa Boston Oxford Times )

Talbot and his pictures stand out in long-overdue relief. (Ben Lifson Art on Paper )

Altogether, a masterful production, very highly recommended. (Choice )

The 100 images . . . exquisitely reproduced for this book are certainly worth owning . . . by those who adore beautiful books. (J. Ross Baughman The Washington Times )

Destined to become one of the great publications on . . . photography. . . . Will appeal to anyone interested in the art of photography. . . . (Mark Haworth-Booth Education Supplement )

The cumulative impact is a palpable sense of discovery, of things glimpsed for the first time and unforgettable as a result. (Lyle Rexer Art in America )

The next best thing to looking at the originals. . . This guide should stimulate anyone interested in the origins of photography. (Photovision )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (September 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691050007
• ISBN-13: 978-0691050003
• Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 11.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,283,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schaaf's Fox Talbot, September 19, 2000

By 

"tdingman" (Englewood, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot (Hardcover)

Larry Schaaf has put together an absolute benchmark of a book. To all of you who sat in the "college survey of art history," saw the 2" by 2" Fox Talbot image "The Soliloquy of the Broom" and wondered what the fuss was about; see this book. To all of you photographers who secretly wonder if photography is really art; see this book. One hundred images are reproduced with (no kidding) breathtaking quality and nuance. Each image is accompanied by a very readable account of how the image was produced and enough descriptive detail about the original image to satisfy an archeologist.

If you are a photo researcher or archivist; read Schaaf's notes on "The photographic artifact as historical map" (p. 22). It is clear, it is complete, it is definitive. I wish all histories and text books could read like this.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 100 quality plates from the father of modern photography, December 22, 2006

By 

Keith Joseph (West Berkshire, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot (Hardcover)

This book is a very large weighty tome, measuring 28cm x 32cm x 4cm. It has 21 pages of text discussing Fox Talbot's work and the photographic process. The remaining few hundred pages are devoted to high quality plates of 100 of his images and a page of text detailing the background to each of these images. Sometimes this text uses rather flowery arty language and certainly not in the style of the dry highly scientifically orientated writings of Talbot at the time. Plus there's no detailed 'Talbot life story' as such, but then much of that is available on the web, e.g. www.foxtalbot.arts.gla.ac.uk. However on the web there are precious few of his photographs on view because of the very high copyright charges for reproduction, hence the attraction of this book.

My only disappointment is that only one solar microscope image is shown - a slice of horse chestnut (I am a microscopist by trade), the remaining 'scientific' images being termed `contact prints' of things like leaves and flowers (e.g. Vines, Honeysuckle, pine needles, orchids) - although I am advised by Talbot authorities that these were most probably taken using the solar microscope as well. Many images are people-less and static e.g. Lacock Abbey windows, lace, breakfast table, Library books, articles of glass, Milliner's Window, Hungerford bridge, The Royal Pavilion, Trinity Church and various woodland scenes. There are about 15 plates with people who stayed still long enough to be recorded in the image, such as: the footman, a group taking tea, the ladder, his daughter, Lady Feilding reclining, Charles Porter drinking tea. These photographs are nothing like as impressive as late Victorian photo images, such as city and dockland scenes, but they are fascinating from a historical perspective. These Talbot images date from 1835 to 1845, and naturally some show serious fading (they don't appear to be retouched at all - a good thing). Also included is a painted B&W silhouette portrait of Talbot as a boy [age 7] that contrasts very well with his later photographic images.

In fact Englishmen Thomas Wedgewood took the first photographs before 1802, but unfortunately couldn't devise a way to fix the image, so the photographs slowly faded from view after they were taken and are now lost (but some of Wedgewood's images may have survived to the 1860's). Although Frenchman Daguerre published first in 1839 with his mercury photographic process, Fox Talbot developed the modern 'negative' process, so that many prints could be taken from one image. So a very interesting book of the art (and science) of the father of modern photography, but perhaps it can be rather expensive (reflecting its high quality production). Three stars for value, four stars for content.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, September 11, 2004

By 

Paula Morrow (Mira Loma, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot (Hardcover)

It is incredible. I am viewing people so far back in time that I am enchanted. I am viewing a fashionable Paris Blvd in the 1940's and am in a position to compare Zola's naturalism in my mind to the truth.

I am thrilled with my purchase.