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

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