William Henry Fox Talbot was an aristocratic Englishman who had an interest in many fields. Considered an influential mathematician, astronomer, and chemist, he was, however, known best as the inventor of the negative-positive process, the ancestor to modern photography. It may be interesting to note that Talbot at the age of twelve wrote a book entitled, The Flora and Fauna of Harrow, heralding an interest in botany. This interest was carried over in some of his photographic works, from his experimentation with sunprints to the use of the calotype. Although an avid scientist, Talbot was also affected by the aesthetics of art. His taste for simplicity can be seen in his unique still lifes of the outdoors, a broom in a doorway or a ladder by a haystack. He carefully composed all his photographs; most likely he carried this principle into the composition of landscapes.5
The
three photographs by William Talbot on this page are simple and straight
foreward, but they all offer different perceptions of trees. The
"Leafless Oak Tree" is silhouetted against the sky. With no special angle
it is almost a flat picture. Why then is it still appealing? Maybe
because it is bare, because it is whole, because it is a silhouette--nothing
is overwhelming. It is simply the majesty of the tree. The other
photographs however present something different.
Leafless Oak Tree
In both of the photographs above and below, the trees are pictured boldy
and simply. This, however, is not the case in the snow photograph.
The visible branches are dark and entangled against the blaring white of
the snow. The bush to the left of the picture provides even more
texture, undoing the usual soft feeling that snow provokes. This
study in the harsh effects of light, the reflections off the snow, can
almost be said to echo the feeling of the photograph.
Early Snow Photograph, Lacock Abbey
Talbot's mother encouraged him to take pictures of the outdoors. She once
wrote to him, "Pray do some more landscapes or other things from nature."
Perhaps she was just echoing the sentiment of the time, eager to publicize
her sons work. But Talbot's study of trees was less for 'publicity'
than for the magic of capturing the feelings evoked. Talbot explained it
best when he wrote, "A painter's eye will often be arrested where ordinary
people see nothing remarkable. A casual gleam of sunshine, or a shadow
thrown across his path, a time-withered oak, or a moss-covered stone may
awaken a train of thoughts and feelings, and picturesque imaginings."
In this third photograph, the cluster of trees seemed to have trapped a
ball of light under its branches. Talbot seized this moment when the leaves
glimmered and the trunks became stunned by the light.5
Oak Tree inCarclew Park
Return Home