Salted paper prints, one of the earliest forms of photography, is a uniquely British invention, unveiled by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1839.  Salt prints spread across the globe, creating a new visual language of the modern moment. This revolutionary technique transformed subjects from still lifes, portraits, landscapes and scenes of daily life into images with their own specific aesthetic: a soft, luxurious effect particular to this photographic process. The few salt prints that survive are seldom seen due to their fragility, and this exhibition is a singular opportunity to see the rarest and best early photographs of this type in the world. The exhibition was recently on view at the Tate Museum in London. Salt and Silver appears at the Williamson through the generosity of Jane and Michael Wilson and the Wilson Centre for Photography.

Salt and Silver Symposium

Saturday, November 10, 3-4:30 p.m.
Humanities Auditorium, Scripps College

Speakers: Hope Kingsley, Wilson Centre of Photography, London: “An Introduction to Salt and Silver.”

Chitra Ramalingam, Assistant Curator of Photography, Yale Center for British Art: “Knowing the World Through Early Photographs.”

Kathleen Stewart Howe, Sarah Rempel and Herbert S. Rempel ’23 Director of the Pomona College Museum of Art and Professor of Art History: “Paper Photography’s Identity Crisis."