William Henry Fox Talbot, The Oak Tree, mid-1840s, salted paper
print from paper negative, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Patrons'
Permanent Fund 1995.36.117
William Henry Fox Talbot invented the calotype, or paper negative, in 1840 (it was patented as the calotype in 1841). Any number of prints could be made from the calotype negative by contact-printing on light-sensitized paper. Talbot called these images "photogenic drawings."
Return
to feature