This is the first exhibition in Britain devoted to salted paper prints, one of the earliest forms of photography. A British invention, unveiled by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1839, salt prints spread across the globe, creating a new visual language of the modern moment. This technique transformed subjects from still lifes, portraits, landscapes and scenes of daily life into images with their own specific aesthetic: a soft effect particular to this photographic process. The few salt prints that survive are seldom seen due to their fragility, and so this exhibition, is a opportunity to see the rarest early photographs of this type in the world. Organised in collaboration with the Wilson Centre for Photography.
Exhibitions
Salt and Silver: Early Photography 1840 – 1860
Curated by Carol Jacobi, Curator of British Art 1850–1915, Simon Baker, Curator, Photography International Art, Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, Assistant Curator 1850-1915 and Hannah Lyons, Assistant Curator 1850–1915.
![](https://www.redeye.org.uk/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Jean-Baptiste%20Frenet%2C%20Women%20and%20girls%20with%20a%20doll%2C%20circa%201855%20Wilson%20Centre%20for%20Photography.jpg?itok=DucNJCAZ)
25 February 2015 to 7 June 2015
£9.50-£12