Share 'I have captured a shadow! – William Henry Fox Talbot and the invention of photography'

William Henry Fox Talbot was the English inventor who pioneered photography on paper. A brilliant scientist, mathematician, and linguist, he was, nevertheless, an appalling draughtsman, and this shortfall propelled him to invent a new art form. Talbot recognised that the photo negative allowed the production of multiple paper prints – and so defined mainstream photography right up until the digit…