Art Funded by you

Portfolio of eight photogenic images

William Henry Fox Talbot, 1839

These four photogenic drawings and four positive paper prints made from photogenic drawings represent the origins of photography as we know it today. Photogenic drawings are the earliest form of negatives, produced by placing an opaque object directly on a sheet of sensitised paper and exposing it to sunlight until the unshielded paper darkened resulting in a light silhouette on a dark background; the paper prints were made by exposing a second sheet of paper to sunlight through the negative, resulting in a positive, the silhouette dark against a light background.

More information

Title of artwork, date

Portfolio of eight photogenic images, 1839

Date supported

1996

Medium and material

Photogenic drawings

Grant

10000

Total cost

51600

Content note: This object record is part of our archive and has not been updated since it was first published. It may contain inaccurate information or outdated language. Please get in touch if you think this record should be amended.

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