On view
Photography
Syrna Duhamel (?),
ca. 1855
Ferdinand Tillard, 1819–1884; born and died Bayeux, France; active Falaise, France
2005-41 b
In 1840, William Henry Fox Talbot invented the negative-positive photographic printing process, in which specially treated paper was exposed in the camera to create a negative, an inversion of darks and lights. The negative could then be projected onto a light-sensitive surface to create a positive print. The idea that an image could be used to print multiple copies of its inverse became the foundation of photography. As was common practice, a thin layer of beeswax was applied to the paper negative of this portrait to help it survive numerous uses and to minimize the reproduction of the negative paper’s grainy texture in the photographic prints.
Information
Title
Syrna Duhamel (?)
Dates
ca. 1855
Maker
Medium
Waxed paper negative
Dimensions
32.3 × 28.4 cm (12 11/16 × 11 3/16 in.)
mat: 50.8 × 40.6 cm (20 × 16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, gift of the Florence Gould Foundation
Object Number
2005-41 b
Place Made
Europe, France, Falaise
Culture
Subject
The artist. Purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, 2005.
