Inventing Photography

Inventing Photography by Geoffrey Batchen explores the remarkable contributions of William Henry Fox Talbot, celebrated today as the English inventor of photography. Talbot made pioneering photographic experiments in the 1830s, released the details of his photogenic drawing process in January 1839, and introduced significant innovations to the medium throughout the 1840s and 1850s.

Drawing on archive material from the Bodleian Library, including three albums given by Talbot to his sister, Horatia Feilding, and his illustrated books, Sun Pictures in Scotland and The Pencil of Nature, this volume illustrates how Talbot was continually reinventing photography. A selection of eighty full-page plates provides a thematic survey of Talbot's work, reproducing images that document his travels, his home and family, and his intellectual interests, spanning science, literature, and ancient languages.

An illustrated introduction places Talbot's work within the context of a modernising Britain, as well as his personal and intellectual milieu. It also explores how the competing daguerreotype process motivated Talbot to refine his techniques and discover new functions and uses for paper-based photographs.

This evocative selection is testament to Talbot's relentless pursuit of photographic advancements, offering a compelling window into the archives of an extraordinarily determined and creative individual.