A captivating book looks at the race between Talbot and Daguerre to become the first to capture and preserve an image
The Anglo-French rivalry in the 1830s between Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre to be the first to capture an image and preserve it remains controversial. The question of who was first will never be resolved, however. Daguerre and Talbot are, say the authors, “a classic example of the Hedgehog and the Fox”: Talbot dogged and determined, Daguerre mercurial and fast-footed. In the end, it was character that determined their fates and reputations.
Capturing The Light: The Birth of Photography by Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport, Macmillan, £20; e-book £11.64. To buy this book for £16 visit thetimes.co.uk/bookshop or call