William Henry Fox Talbot 1800 - 1877

occupation:
Photographer,
Pioneer of photography
Nationality:
English; British
born in:
Melbury, Dorset

Talbot secured an MA at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1832 he was elected to Parliament as reform candidate for Chippenham. A year before he was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society. He experimented with light-sensitive washes on paper - or 'sciagraphs'. He also experimented with fixing images with potassium iodide. In 1835 he retired from parliament and concentrated on his mathematical work. In 1838 he returned to experimenting with photography. That year some of his work was shown by Michael Faraday to the Royal Institution, he then detailed his working procedures before the Royal Society. In 1840 he announced his discovery of 'calotype photogenic drawing' which he patented. In 1852 he patented a 'photographic engraving' process that could be printed from. This was developed into 'photoglypic engraving' by 1858; In 1862 he won a prize medal for this at the International Exhibition in London.