1839–1841Reputable sourceWell documented
Talbot and the Negative
On the timeline · around 1839–1841 ·
What happened
In England, William Henry Fox Talbot developed a rival process. Instead of a one-of-a-kind plate, he created a paper 'negative' from which any number of positive prints could be made. His 1835 image of a latticed window at Lacock Abbey is the oldest photographic negative in existence.
Why it matters
Talbot's negative-positive process, not Daguerre's, was the true ancestor of modern photography and film. The ability to make endless copies from a single negative made photography reproducible and, eventually, universal.