Introduction to the History of Photography

    The Geography Lesson , 1851. Stereoscopic daguerreotype   Portrait of Fox Talbot by Claudet, c.1844 image source: British Library - Points of View Born in Lyon, France, in 1797,  Antoine-Jean-Francois Claudet  settled in London in 1827. After a period as a successful  glass merchant, he learned the daguerreotype process from Daguerre himself. Claudet purchased the first Daguerreotype licence in England and established his own photographic studio on the roof of the Adelaide Gallery, behind St. Martin's church, London, from 1841 to 1851, later moved to 107 Regent Street.  He brought several technical improvements to the Daguerreotype process, including new sensitizing materials, exposure times and focal improvements, and is credit with the discovery that it was possible to develop prints under a red light, as well as the use of painted backdrops. He was appointed photographer to Queen Victoria in 1853. MGL   Self-portrait with ...