Impressed by Light: British Photographs from Paper Negatives 1840-1860

About this book

When photography appeared shortly before 1840 the metal-plate daguerreotype invented in France was first to achieve popularity. But the process simultaneously developed in England for capturing an image on a paper negativefrom which many positives could be printedprovided the foundation on which photography would build for the next 150 years. This beautiful book presents more than 120 photographs printed from paper negatives or calotypes most never before published. The entire course of the paper negatives golden age is described from its laborious invention by William Henry Fox Talbot to competition with French photographers and commercial practitioners. Aesthetically ambitious these richly textured calotypes were created by photographers both eminent and virtually unknown. Also inc