My first question in this group
Have any members visited the archive that holds Henry Taunt's negatives?
I know they are held by historic England and/or the National Monument Records Offices, and I have found the page where I can book to visit the archive in Swindon.
I'd like to see at least some of the negatives as part of a project I am planning here in Oxford. I'd like to know how big they are and whether he was contact printing or enlarging. None of the online references include scale - even Graham Diprose and Jeff Robbins in their, otherwise excellent, book missed this detail even though they digitised some of the images.
Would also be nice to see the details on some of the negatives - I'm especially intrigued to see the ones, like this one, where the emulsion shows damage around the edges. This happens to my glass plates too and I will enjoy seeing an earlier photographer's experience of the same challenges!
If someone else has visited the archive to see the Henry Taunt negatives perhaps you have some tips on what I should ask for, how I should ask and what I should expect when I get there. A bit of extra information at this stage could save me an extra trip to Swindon.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Many thanks
Wendy
I can't make the image show full scale here, so if you'd like to see it here's a link
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