Camera Obscura
1839–40
Medium
Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions
Image: 17.2 x 19.5 cm (6 3/4 x 7 11/16 in.) Sheet: 11.5 x 21.6 cm (4 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1936
Accession Number
36.37 (36)
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Henry Fox Talbot, a British scientist and inventor, created this early photograph during the pivotal years when he was perfecting his calotype process. Dating from 1839–40, *Camera Obscura* is a salted paper print made from a paper negative—an innovative technique that allowed images to be reproduced from a single negative, laying the foundation for modern photography. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Photographs, the work captures Talbot’s fascination with light and optics, transforming the traditional camera obscura device into a tool for permanent image-makin...
About the Artist
William Henry Fox Talbot · 1800–1877
William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877), a British polymath whose ingenuity transformed visual representation, was born on 11 February 1800 at Melbury House, Dorset, the only child of William Davenport Talbot of Lacock Abbey and Lady Elisabeth Fox Strangways, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Ilchester. His father died shortly after his birth, leaving the family in financial straits until his formidable mo...