St. George's Chapel, Windsor
c. 1843/47
Medium
Salted paper print
Dimensions
Image: 16.6 × 19.8 cm (6 9/16 × 7 13/16 in.); Paper: 18.5 × 22.9 cm (7 5/16 × 9 1/16 in.)
Classification
salted paper print
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
27079
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
William Henry Fox Talbot was one of the inventors of photography, developing the first positive-negative process. Although he did use his technique to produce portraits, the lengthy exposure time made it better suited to still lifes and architectural studies. Talbot received special permission to photograph inside the precincts of Windsor Castle (his half-sister was a lady in waiting to Queen Victoria, an avid supporter of photography). There he produced, among other images, this photograph of S...
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...