Constance Fox Talbot
British photographer (1811–1880)
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Constance Talbot (née Mundy, 30 January 1811 – 9 September 1880)[1] was an English artist credited as the first woman ever to take a photograph – a hazy image of a short verse by the Irish poet Thomas Moore.[2]
30 January 1811
Constance Fox Talbot | |
|---|---|
Constance Fox Talbot, circa 1840, photograph by William Henry Fox Talbot | |
| Born | Constance Mundy 30 January 1811 Markeaton Hall, Markeaton, Derbyshire, England, UK |
| Died | 9 September 1880 (aged 69) London, England, UK |
| Resting place | Lacock Cemetery, Lacock, Wiltshire, England, UK |
| Known for | Photography |
| Spouse | William Henry Fox Talbot |
Constance, who came from Markeaton in Derbyshire,[3] was the youngest daughter of Francis Mundy (1771–1837), Member of Parliament for that county from 1822 to 1831.[4]
She married William Henry Fox Talbot, one of the key players in the development of photography in the 1830s and 1840s, in 1832.[3] In 1833, during their honeymoon in Italy, her husband realised that her artistic abilities were superior to his, and began to develop a method to capture a view without draughtsmanship, which led to the negative-positive process of photography.[5]
She briefly experimented with the process herself as early as 1839.[6]
Her watercolours and drawings remained hidden at Lacock Abbey, Fox Talbot's home, until they were digitised by the National Trust and made publicly available.[5][7]
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