Archive note: historical claims and artist or artwork associations in this entry have not yet received a full source review.
Calotype
The Calotype art style is characterized by its soft, blurry appearance. This is due to the long exposure times required to capture an image in this process, which results in a lot of movement during the exposure. This results in a final image that is often described as looking like a watercolor painting.
AOI thinking about Calotype [+_~]-/
Overview and quick facts
The Calotype is an early photographic process developed in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot. The process involves taking a negative image on paper coated with light-sensitive silver halide crystals. This negative image can then be used to create positive prints on paper or fabric. The Calotype process was the first to allow for the mass production of photographic images.
Can understand it also, as:
Phototype, heliograph, camera lucida, camera obscura
Categorize it as:
Impressionism, Modernism
Detailed description
In 1841, William Henry Fox Talbot invented the calotype, the first negative-positive photographic process. This allowed for multiple copies to be made from a single negative. The calotype process was an improvement over earlier methods, such as the daguerreotype, because it was less expensive and more easily reproduced. The calotype was popularized by photographer Roger Fenton, who used it to document the Crimean War. Fenton’s photographs were widely circulated and helped to bring the realities of war to the public. Other notable calotypists include Julia Margaret Cameron, who used the process to create portraits of Victorian celebrities, and Lewis Carroll, who used it to photograph the young Alice Liddell, the inspiration for his book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The calotype is a beautiful and historic photographic process that continues to inspire artists today.
Archive notes — claims to verify
1. The calotype was developed by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1841.
2. It was the first negative-positive photographic process.
3. A calotype negative was made by coating a sheet of paper with light-sensitive silver halide crystals.
4. The negative was then placed in a camera and exposed to light.
5. After exposure, the negative was fixed in a solution of potassium cyanide.
6. A positive print was made by contact printing the negative onto another sheet of sensitized paper.
7. The print was then fixed and washed in the same manner as the negative.
8. The calotype process was the first to allow for multiple copies of a photograph to be made.
9. Talbot patented the process in 1841 and 1842.
10. The first public exhibition of calotype photographs was held in 1845.
11. The process fell out of favor in the 1850s with the advent of the collodion process.
12. The calotype process was complicated and time-consuming.
13. It was also difficult to produce prints of consistent quality.
14. The calotype was the first photographic process to use paper as a negative.
15. Talbot's early experiments with the calotype were conducted with salted paper.
16. He later switched to using unsalted paper, which produced better results.
17. The calotype process was also known as the Talbotype process.
18. Talbot's calotype patents were later challenged by other photographers.
19. The calotype process continued to be used into the 20th century.
20. The term "calotype" is now used to refer to any early negative-positive photographic process.
Artists and works: references to check
(be aware, can be highly speculative)
Artists (be aware, speculation possible):
1. William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) 2. John Herschel (1792-1871) 3. Roger Fenton (1819-1869) 4. Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) 5. Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) 6. Oscar Rejlander (1813-1875) 7. Henry Peach Robinson (1830-1901) 8. James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) 9. Frederick Scott Archer (1813-1857) 10. Anna Atkins (1799-1871) 11. William de Morgan (1839-1917) 12. Edward Steichen (1879-1973) 13. Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882-1966) 14. Gertrude Käsebier (1852-1934) 15. Clarence H. White (1871-1925) 16. Paul Strand (1890-1976) 17. Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) 18. Edward Weston (1886-1958) 19. Ansel Adams (1902-1984) 20. Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976) 21. László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) 22. Man Ray (1890-1976) 23. Walker Evans (1903-1975) 24. Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) 25. Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971) 26. Bill Brandt (1904-1983) 27. Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) 28. Robert Frank (1924-2019) 29. Garry Winogrand (1928-1984) 30. Lee Friedlander (1934-2020)
Artworks (be aware, speculation possible)
1. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Open Doorway, Lacock Abbey, 1835-1839 2. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Haystack, 1843 3. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Oriel Window, Lacock Abbey, 1835-1839 4. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Ivy Bridge, Devon, 1845 5. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Red House, 1845 6. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Tower of Lacock Abbey, 1845 7. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel, 1845 8. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Temple of Juno, Agrigento, 1845 9. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Temple of Vesta, Tivoli, 1845 10. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Arch of Titus, Rome, 1845 11. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Colosseum, Rome, 1845 12. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Roman Forum, 1845 13. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Campo Santo, Pisa, 1845 14. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, 1845 15. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Cathedral of Pisa, 1845 16. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Baptistery, Pisa, 1845 17. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, 1845 18. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Ponte Vecchio, Florence, 1845 19. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Parthenon, Athens, 1845 20. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Erechtheion, Athens, 1845 21. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Propylaea, Athens, 1845 22. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Temple of Zeus, Olympia, 1845 23. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Parthenon Frieze, Athens, 1845 24. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Acropolis, Athens, 1845 25. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Temple of Apollo, Bassae, 1845 26. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Temple of Athena Nike, Athens, 1845 27. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Theater of Dionysus, Athens, 1845 28. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Stoa of Attalus, Athens, 1845 29. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Arch of Hadrian, Athens, 1845 30. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Lysicrates Monument, Athens, 1845
Epoch
The Calotype art style was popularized in the early 1800s.
Creative tools and further exploration
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Creative studies to try
Explore these collected prompts as creative interpretations. They are starting points for image-making, not reproductions of historical artworks or evidence about a tradition.
Visual cues: Soft paper-negative detail and warm tonal haze
Study 1 — Calotype
Apply the following visual approach to my subject or project, preserving its core content and purpose. Use softly textured monochrome photography, visible paper fibers, warm brown tones, and gentle blurred detail from a paper-negative process. Adapt the composition to my subject and use the technique as a visual direction. Do not add text unless my project calls for it.
Prompt source: Emergent Mind Style Atlas. Select the text to copy, then adapt the subject and composition.