[Hungerford Suspension Bridge] 1843 - 1847

William Henry Fox Talbot made this photograph of the Hungerford Suspension Bridge using his patented calotype process. It’s a fantastically interesting technique because it reverses the normal photographic method. Instead of capturing light on a polished metal plate, as in the daguerreotype, the calotype used paper coated with silver iodide. The resulting image is soft, almost painterly, and the material of the paper shines through. Look at the bridge itself. Its elegant suspension cables, rendered in infinite detail, were emblems of Victorian engineering, and this connects to broader histories of construction, labor, and the industrial revolution. The boats in the foreground, however, remind us that the river was still a place of work, a reality that Talbot’s method brings to the fore. The texture, weight, and form, combined with the social and industrial context, allow us to reflect on the artistic ingenuity behind it and challenge traditional assumptions in photography.