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A Photographic Truth

Photograph
1852-54 (photographed)
Artist/Maker

Turner took out a licence to practice ‘calotype’ photography from William Henry Fox Talbot in 1848. The positive images were contact-printed from paper negatives. The negative (above) and its corresponding positive (below) are reunited here to illustrate this process. The pairing as you see them would not have been the photographer’s original intention for display. Although negatives were sometimes exhibited in their own right, showing positive prints was the norm.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleA Photographic Truth (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Calotype negative
Brief description
Photographic negative by Benjamin Brecknell Turner, 'A Photographic Truth', 1852-54, calotype negative
Physical description
Paper negative depicting a village scene reflected in a lake
Dimensions
  • Width: 300mm
  • Height: 400mm
Style
Gallery label
Photography Centre 2018-20:

Benjamin Brecknell Turner (1815–94)
Hawkhurst Church, Kent (A Photographic Truth)
1852

Turner took out a licence to practice ‘calotype’ photography from William Henry Fox Talbot in 1848. The positive images were contact-printed from paper negatives. The negative (above) and its corresponding positive (below) are reunited here to illustrate this process. The pairing as you see them would not have been the photographer’s original intention for display. Although negatives were sometimes exhibited in their own right, showing positive prints was the norm.

Calotype negative; albumen print
Museum nos. RPS.1200-2018; PH.54-1982

The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund and Art Fund
Credit line
The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund.
Subject depicted
Summary
Turner took out a licence to practice ‘calotype’ photography from William Henry Fox Talbot in 1848. The positive images were contact-printed from paper negatives. The negative (above) and its corresponding positive (below) are reunited here to illustrate this process. The pairing as you see them would not have been the photographer’s original intention for display. Although negatives were sometimes exhibited in their own right, showing positive prints was the norm.
Collection
Accession number
RPS.1200-2018

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Record createdFebruary 6, 2018
Record URL
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