Constance Talbot (née Mundy, 30 January 1811 – 9 September 1880) 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 Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...

. Constance, who came from

Markeaton Markeaton is a suburban village and former civil parish within Derby in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire, England. It is in the Mackworth Ward of Derby City Council. The village lies on the narrow Markeaton Lane road. It is home to the po ...

in Derbyshire, was the youngest daughter of

Francis Mundy Francis Mundy (bapt. 29 Aug 1771 – 6 May 1837) was an English landowner, Member of Parliament for the Derbyshire constituency and, in 1820, Sheriff of Derbyshire. Life Francis Mundy was the elder of two sons of the magistrate and poet ...

(1771–1837), Member of Parliament for that county from 1822 to 1831. She married

William Henry Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the Salt print, salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th ...

, one of the key players in the development of photography in the 1830s and 1840s, in 1832. 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. She briefly experimented with the process herself as early as 1839. Her watercolours and drawings remained hidden at

Lacock Abbey Lacock Abbey in the village of Lacock, Wiltshire, England, was founded in the early 13th century by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, as a nunnery of the Augustinian order. The abbey remained a nunnery until the Dissolution of the monasteries in ...

, Fox Talbot's home, until they were digitised by the National Trust and made publicly available.

References

English women photographers Pioneers of photography 1811 births 1880 deaths

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

Constance Fox 19th-century British women artists 19th-century English photographers People from Markeaton Photographers from Derbyshire 19th-century British women photographers {{UK-photographer-stub