Capturing the Light

I’ve just finished reading “Capturing the Light”. It recounts the early history of photography through the stories of two great photographic pioneers: Luis Jacques Mande Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot.

Daguerre was an accomplished painter and a great showman. He initially made his name as the creator of dioramas but as that business started to wane he looked for another source of income. Not really a scientist Daguerre through experimentation, strategic partnerships (e.g. with Nicephore Niepce who is credited with producing the first photograph) managed to come up with the process which bears his name: Daguerreotype and started a photographic explosion which continues to this day.

Talbot was the complete opposite to Daguerre. Coming from the British landed gentry he was independently wealth and had the time to indulge his scientific pursuits, of which photography was one of many. He came up with his own process before Daguerre but in characteristic style did not rush to publication so Daguerre got there first. Showing his typical modesty he named his process Calotype rather than Talbottype . Most significantly the Calotype was based on prints made from negatives where the Daguerreotype was a direct positive on a metal plate. Large numbers of additional prints could be made from the Calotype negative whereas each Daguerrotype was unique and additional copies could not easily be produced. So although Daguerre got there first Fox Talbot’s process became the basis for all photography up to the digital era.

I very much enjoyed this book. It combines two of my main interests: history and photography.