|
The calotype's paper negative made possible the reproduction of
photographic images. The unavoidably coarse paper base for the negative,
however, eliminated the delicate detail that made the daguerreotype
so appealing. This lack of precision was understood and used to
advantage by the Scottish painter David Octavius Hill and his assistant,
Robert Adamson. From 1843 to 1848 they made an extensive series
of calotype portraits of Scottish clergymen, intended to serve only
as studies for a group portrait in oils, that stands today among
the major bodies of work in the medium.
|