Portrait of Rosamond Constance Talbot, the Photographer’s Daughter, William Henry Fox Talbot (attributed to), c. 1842

salted paper print, h 113mm × w 95mm More details

In this little salted paper portrait taken by the British inventor of photography, the difference with the daguerreotype – the French invention of photography on a silvered copper plate – is quite distinct. A daguerreotype photograph is pinpoint-sharp and almost tangible in a magical way. In contrast, a paper photograph has soft lines and contours and is picturesque, like a drawing in sepia. Daguerreotype produced unique and one-off images, while paper photography was reproducible.