William Henry Fox Talbot
British, 1800-1877

What subject could be better than glass, a material that shimmers in light, to demonstrate photography, a medium invented to capture reflected light? William Henry Fox Talbot, a scientist and an inventor of photography, made this image around 1844, just a few years after he invented a photographic process that used a paper negative. With this image, he created the first photograph of glass objects, featuring decanters and cups from his own household arranged on shelves in the courtyard of his home at Lacock Abbey, England. Talbot’s process required long exposures in sunlight, so he frequently set up still lifes outdoors to demonstrate the new medium.

Calotype, about 1844

Gift of Harold Boeschenstein, Jr.; Frederic P. and Amy McCombs Currier; William and Pamela Davis; Mary and Thomas Field; Mr. and Mrs. O. Lee Henry; Mr. and Mrs. Harry Kaminer III; The Reva and David Logan Foundation; Dr. and Mrs. James Ravin; Mark and Rubena Schaffer; and Mr. and Mrs. Spencer D. Stone in honor of the 150th anniversary of the invention of photography, 1989.32