Thomas Wedgwood (photographer)

Thomas Wedgwood (14 May 1771 – 10 July 1805) was an English inventor. He was one of the very first people to explore the idea of photography. He wanted to make permanent pictures using a camera and special chemicals that change when light hits them. The pictures he made were only shadows and didn’t last long, but his idea was very important. Because of his early work, some people today call him “the first photographer.” His experiments helped create the photography we use today.

Life

Thomas Wedgwood was one of eight children born to Josiah Wedgwood and his wife Sarah. His father started the famous Wedgwood company. Thomas grew up in Etruria, Staffordshire, now part of Stoke-on-Trent in England.

He loved art and spent time with painters, sculptors, and poets. After receiving money from his father’s estate in 1795, he helped support these artists. Thomas never married and had no children. He was often sick and passed away at age 34 in Dorset.

A pioneer of photography

Wedgwood was the first person known to have used special chemicals to make pictures, like those taken with a camera. He tried to make lasting pictures by using paper and leather coated with a light-sensitive chemical called silver nitrate.

He could not take pictures of real scenes with a camera, but he did make silhouette images by placing objects in sunlight. These pictures showed dark shapes of objects against a lighter background. His work inspired other scientists and helped begin the development of modern photography.

Patron to Coleridge

Thomas Wedgwood was a friend of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In 1798, Wedgwood helped Coleridge by giving him money. This let Coleridge spend more time on philosophy and poetry.