Fox Talbot and the Invention of Photography - Gail Buckland

"The story of the invention and the life of the inventor assume exiting proportions when related as the tale of a 19th century English gentleman's philosophical quest for "truth" Great Britain, unmatched leader of the newly industrialised Western world, bred and nurtured Talbot"
Gail Buckland (1980). Fox Talbot and the Invention of Photography. London: Scolar Press. p11.

"In the history of photography there is no more seminal a figure than William Henry Fox Talbot and no photographs more compelling than the earliest photographs made"
Gail Buckland (1980). Fox Talbot and the Invention of Photography. London: Scolar Press. p12.

"Talbot's ambition was for knowledge, not fame, not friends, not wealth. Knowledge had to be striven for with all the energy and power within him."
Gail Buckland (1980). Fox Talbot and the Invention of Photography. London: Scolar Press. p14.

"The central concern of Talbot's life, however, was scolarship, not in any one discipline but in a multitude of subjects; he viewed all knowledge as interrelated."
Gail Buckland (1980). Fox Talbot and the Invention of Photography. London: Scolar Press. p14-15.

"The scientific view of life was connected to the artisitc; the derivation of a word explained as much about the world as looking at crystals in a microscope; cultivating plants was as joyous and as challenging as making pictures with the camera obscura"
Gail Buckland (1980). Fox Talbot and the Invention of Photography. London: Scolar Press. p15.

"Talbot encouraged his children to be attentive to the intricacies and delicacy of flora and at the same time discussed authoritatively new discoveries with the experts of the Linnean Society, of which he became a Fellow at age 29, an honour reserved for the most distinguished botanists of the day. In this context, his photogenic drawings and calotypes of trees, ferns leaves and plants take on a new dimension. These were not just random subjects easily available for pictures, but objects to be scrutinised and considered in their own right"
Gail Buckland (1980). Fox Talbot and the Invention of Photography. London: Scolar Press. p19-20.

This is in complete opposition to my own work, i know next to nothing about the plants I photograph, instead it is an unknowing collaboration between my other who has some idea for keeping a garden, and myself who sees these little subjects.

"The "idea" came to Talbot (or Talbot came to it) during his six-month belated honeymoon with Constance in 1833 while attempting to sketch  scenes at Lake Como with a camera lucida. His drawings were pitiful. He thought he might do better using a camera obscura as he had done before but realised that being a poor draftsman his attempts would always be hopeless. Suddenly, it seemed, Talbot imagined the outlines in the camera obscura as "fairy pictures, creations of a moment, and destined to quickly fade away" but "how charming it would be if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durably, and remain fixed upon the paper!"
Gail Buckland (1980). Fox Talbot and the Invention of Photography. London: Scolar Press. p25.

"Talbot, like many other Victorians, seems to have done too much in his lifetime. Perhaps, as Steiner suggests, he needed less sleep, but why did he work quite so hard all those waking hours? The answer is in his letters and papers. They reveal a man consumed by the idea of cultural evolution and the advancement of civilisation."
Gail Buckland (1980). Fox Talbot and the Invention of Photography. London: Scolar Press. p107.