Richard Ovenden, Bodley's librarian, has reported the gift of the earliest image of the Radcliffe Observatory, now Green Templeton College, to the photography collections at the Bodleian Library. The image is a paper negative by William Henry Fox Talbot, from 1842.
The negative is shown in The William Henry Fox Talbot catalogue raisonné as Schaaf 2675, date inscribed in pencil, in Talbot's hand, verso, 29 July/42 [29 July 1842]. See: https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/catalog/artifact-5183
Comments
I thought it would be interesting to see this as a positive.
As someone who has spent many hours under the darkcloth I am puzzled at the viewpoint. The building is still exactly the same as shown and it has a vast expanse of lawn in front. So why did FT feel the need to get so close and cut off so much of the structure? He clearly made an effort to avoid converging verticals and this is not something he did in other photographs taken in Oxford. There are no fewer than seven negatives of theTaylor Institution and the University Galleries (https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/?page=2&q=buildings&...) and every one is 'squint'. Clearly he learned that vertically correct images were more pleasing to the eye in later work and he made use of raised viewpoints to help where he didn't have a camera with a rising front. And he obviously did try at Oxford (https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/catalog/schaaf-300) as this iamge shows.
Has anyone written about his attitude to converging verticals?
Possibly there was some temporary impediment behind him that prevented him standing further back?