Capturing the Light : The Birth of Photography, a True Story of Genius and Rivalry

An Intimate Look At The Journeys Of Two Men--a Gentleman Scientist And A Visionary Artist--as They Struggled To Capture The World Around Them, And In The Process Invented Modern Photography. During The 1830s, In An Atmosphere Of Intense Scientific Enquiry Fostered By The Industrial Revolution, Two Quite Different Men--one In France, One In England--developed Their Own Dramatically Different Photographic Processes In Total Ignorance Of Each Other's Work. These Two Lone Geniuses--henry Fox Talbot In The Seclusion Of His English Country Estate At Lacock Abbey And Louis Daguerre In The Heart Of Post-revolutionary Paris--through Diligence, Disappointment And Sheer Hard Work Overcame Extraordinary Odds To Achieve The One Thing Man Had For Centuries Been Trying To Do--to Solve The Ancient Puzzle Of How To Capture The Light And In So Doing Make Nature 'paint Its Own Portrait'. With The Creation Of Their Two Radically Different Processes--the Daguerreotype And The Talbotype--these Two Giants Of Early Photography Changed The World And How We See It. Drawing On A Wide Range Of Original, Contemporary Sources And Featuring Plates In Colour, Sepia And Black And White, Many Of Them Rare Or Previously Unseen, Capturing The Light Charts An Extraordinary Tale Of Genius, Rivalry And Human Resourcefulness In The Quest To Produce The World's First Photograph-- Prologue: My First Daguerreotype -- The Locked Treasure Room -- Shadowgrams -- The Box Of Wonders -- An Inheritance -- The Panorama -- An Innate Love Of Knowledge -- More Beautiful Than Nature -- Lacock Abbey -- Seeking The Impossible -- The Heliograph -- The Melancholy Artist -- Fixing The Image -- The Latticed Window, August 1835 -- The Magic Cabinet -- The Most Wonderful Discovery Ever Made -- From Today, Painting Is Dead -- Photogenic Drawing. Roger Watson And Helen Rappaport. Includes Bibliographical References (pages [278]-295) And Index. An intimate look at the journeys of two men -- a gentleman scientist and a visionary artist -- as they struggled to capture the world around them, and in the process invented modern photography. During the 1830s, in an atmosphere of intense scientific enquiry fostered by the industrial revolution, two quite different men -- one in France, one in England -- developed their own dramatically different photographic processes in total ignorance of each other's work. These two lone geniuses -- Henry Fox Talbot in the seclusion of his English country estate at Lacock Abbey and Louis Daguerre in the heart of post-revolutionary Paris -- through diligence, disappointment and sheer hard work overcame extraordinary odds to achieve the one thing man had for centuries been trying to do -- to solve the ancient puzzle of how to capture the light and in so doing make nature 'paint its own portrait'. With the creation of their two radically different processes -- the Daguerreotype and the Talbotype -- these two giants of early photography changed the world and how we see it. Drawing on a wide range of original, contemporary sources and featuring plates in colour, sepia and black and white, many of them rare or previously unseen, Capturing the Light by Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport charts an extraordinary tale of genius, rivalry and human resourcefulness in the quest to produce the world's first photograph. - Publisher.

An intimate look at the journeys of two men—a gentleman scientist and a visionary artist—as they struggled to capture the world around them, and in the process invented modern photography

During the 1830s, in an atmosphere of intense scientific enquiry fostered by the industrial revolution, two quite different men—one in France, one in England—developed their own dramatically different photographic processes in total ignorance of each other's work. These two lone geniuses—Henry Fox Talbot in the seclusion of his English country estate at Lacock Abbey and Louis Daguerre in the heart of post-revolutionary Paris—through diligence, disappointment and sheer hard work overcame extraordinary odds to achieve the one thing man had for centuries been trying to do—to solve the ancient puzzle of how to capture the light and in so doing make nature 'paint its own portrait'. With the creation of their two radically different processes—the Daguerreotype and the Talbotype—these two giants of early photography changed the world and how we see it.
Drawing on a wide range of original, contemporary sources and featuring plates in colour, sepia and black and white, many of them rare or previously unseen, Capturing the Light by Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport charts an extraordinary tale of genius, rivalry and human resourcefulness in the quest to produce the world's first photograph.

A “thoroughly enjoyable” account of the English scientist and the French artist, each toiling alone, who invented modern photography (The Wall Street Journal).During the 1830s, in an atmosphere of intense scientific inquiry fostered by the industrial revolution, two quite different men—one in France, one in England—developed their own dramatically different photographic processes in total ignorance of each other's work. These two lone geniuses—Henry Fox Talbot in the seclusion of his English country estate at Lacock Abbey and Louis Daguerre in the heart of post-revolutionary Paris—through diligence, disappointment, and sheer hard work overcame extraordinary odds to achieve the one thing man had for centuries been trying to do—to solve the ancient puzzle of how to capture the light and in so doing make nature “paint its own portrait.” With the creation of their two radically different processes—the Daguerreotype and the Talbotype—these two giants of early photography changed the world and how we see it. Drawing on a wide range of original, contemporary sources and featuring plates in color, sepia, and black and white, many of them rare or previously unseen, Capturing the Light charts an extraordinary tale of genius, rivalry, and human resourcefulness in the quest to produce the world's first photograph.“Energetically written and deftly paced... gripping popular history.” —Publishers Weekly "An intimate look at the journeys of two men-- a gentleman scientist and a visionary artist-- as they struggled to capture the world around them, and in the process invented modern photography. During the 1830s, in an atmosphere of intense scientific enquiry fostered by the Industrial Revolution, two quite different men-- one in France, one in England-- developed their own dramatically different photographic processes in total ignorance of each other's work. These two lone geniuses-- Henry Fox Talbot in the seclusion of his English country estate at Lacock Abbey and Louis Daguerre in the heart of post-revolutionary Paris-- through diligence, disappointment and sheer hard work overcame extraordinary odds to achieve the one thing man had for centuries been trying to do--to solve the ancient puzzle of how to capture the light and in so doing make nature 'paint its own portrait'. With the creation of their two radically different processes-- the Daguerreotype and the Talbotype-- these two giants of early photography changed the world and how we see it. Drawing on a wide range of original, contemporary sources and featuring plates in colour, sepia and black and white, many of them rare or previously unseen, Capturing the Light charts an extraordinary tale of genius, rivalry and human resourcefulness in the quest to produce the world's first photograph"-- Provided by publisher Prologue : My first daguerreotype The locked treasure room Shadowgrams The box of wonders An inheritance The panorama An innate love of knowledge More beautiful than nature Lacock Abbey Seeking the impossible The heliograph The melancholy artist Fixing the image The latticed window, August 1835 The magic cabinet The most wonderful discovery ever made From today, painting is dead Photogenic drawing The Académie des Sciences, August 1839 Daguerreotypomania Portraiture The pencil of nature The monopoly of the sunshine The Great Exhibition of 1851 The reluctant inventor Art or science? The mute testimony of the picture The eye of history Epilogue : Everyman's art