[Carpenter and Apprentice]
ca. 1844
![[Carpenter and Apprentice] by William Henry Fox Talbot](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.artheonmuseum.org%2Fmet%2Fph%2Fthumb%2Fcarpenter-and-apprentice-283072.webp&w=3840&q=75)
Medium
Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions
15.5 x 14.9 cm (6 1/8 x 5 7/8 in. )
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.610
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the dawn of photography with William Henry Fox Talbot's *Carpenter and Apprentice (ca. 1844), a charming salted paper print from a paper negative, measuring just 15.5 x 14.9 cm. Captured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this intimate scene depicts two men—a skilled carpenter and his young apprentice—deep in concentration amid tools and wood shavings. Talbot, a British pioneer, used his innovative calotype process to freeze this everyday moment, transforming a humble workshop into a testament to human craftsmanship. The medium itself is revolutionary: Talbot's paper negative allowe...
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...