Erised

Another photograph from Lacock Abbey. This is the room used in the first Harry Potter movie where Harry would go and stare into the Mirror of Erised. That is all…enjoy.

The Latticed Window

This is another photograph I made at Lacock Abbey as part of my photo history nerd pilgrimage. This is known as the Latticed Window. Many believe that the very first photographic negative ever made was of this window in August of 1835 using what his wife Constance referred to as a Mousetrap Camera. (A copy of the negative with Talbot's notes are posted below) Here is a quote from Talbot describing the images he made in 1835. (He didn't reveal his process until 1839 after he heard about the announcement of the daguerreotype process in Paris)

"In the summer of 1835 I made in this way a great number of representations of my house in the country, which is well suited to the purpose. And this building I believe to be the first that was ever yet known to have drawn its own picture." William Henry Fox Talbot

I love the poetic notion of the house drawing its own picture. (The notion is admittedly better than this particular photograph. This is my geek moment, don't judge)

Ode to Talbot

Many of the first photographs ever taken were taken at Lacock Abbey in England. It was the home of William Henry Fox Talbot who is considered one of the inventors of photography. Before the Daguerreotype had been released in France, Talbot had independently and without knowledge of the other process, been developing his own photographic process. The process was fundamentally different in many ways. Talbot continued to refine his process and it eventually became known as the Calotype process. (His mother insisted on calling them Talbotypes) The Calotype was a paper negative process (the first positive/negative process) that could be reprinted and had a beautiful textural quality due to printing through the paper fibers. I took a group of students to Lacock Abbey last summer and being the photo history nerd that I am it felt akin to a religious pilgrimage. I took this image simply as a tribute to one of Talbots early photographs that I have included below. (With a touch of Atgét thrown in as well) Those early experiments of Talbot have led to such a beautiful legacy. I truly adore the art and craft of photography.

Halls of Higher Learning

Another image from the cloisters at Lacock Abbey. Birthplace of the positive/negative process in photography and a location that was used prominently in the first two Harry Potter movies.

"The third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Albus Dumbeldore

Tangled Dungeon

This photograph is of the interior and ceiling of a room in Lacock Abbey. This room was used as Severus Snape's dungeon classroom in the first two Harry Potter Movies…also seems to be an inspiration for Disney's Tangled. Little flower star designs painted all over the ceiling.

Hogwarts and Photography

I love photography. If you know me at all this statement will not come as a surprise. Another love that is well known is my love for the world of Harry Potter. There is something about the idea of magic actually existing that excites my love for life. The known world is a little boring to me, the unknown is invigorating. Imagine my amazement when I discovered that the very home where William Henry Fox Talbot invented photography (his version anyways) is also where they brought some of the magic of Harry Potter to life. This image is from the cloisters of Lacock Abbey. These were also the halls of Hogwarts. Down the hall to the left was Snape's dungeon and also the classroom where they stored the Mirror of Erised. Welcome to the location of one of my versions of heaven on earth; where magic and photography met.