19thC; Jones Calvert, Couple on steps

A man in coat, hat and plaid waistcoat stands on the steps. Above him, a young woman is seated, she is wearing a crinoline. The French windows at the top of the four steps are open and the interior is in darkness.
This photograph is one of nine in the album taken with a small camera. There is fading down the right side of the photograph.

During the 1830s William Henry Fox Talbot invented a way of making paper negatives and from them multiple paper prints. In doing so, he laid the foundations of modern photography. Calvert Richard Jones learned of these developments in 1839 through a neighbour, who was a cousin of Talbot. Jones made many pictures in the West of England and South Wales, where he lived. He also travelled widely, making photographs on the continent. Jones' work stands out in the early development of photography because he was one of the first to apply a schooled artist's eye to the medium.

Jones used these sun lit steps as the location for four portraits in this album. A series of strong horizontal lines is a frequently used compositional motif in his work. The man standing on the steps is the same as the man seated on the same steps earlier in the album (PH.32-1983) and may be Kit Talbot with his daughter. This photograph is double mounted on a page with a portrait of Henry Talbot and these two photographs may be the two cousins.

PH.77-1983