The Talbot Collection

 

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Wally and Howard Talbot Photographic Collection

The COPYRIGHT on all the photographs in the collection belongs to the Talbot Archive

 Keep checking the Talbot Gallery; images will be constantly added as the website is developed.
Please note that the images are shown in low resolution in order to protect the integrity and copyright of the collection.

Click​​​ Here in order to view the collection.

 Select the link below in order to view a selection of images from the:
Talbot Sport Archive 

 Getty Images hold the copyright to the Talbot Collection's Sport Photographs

Wally & Howard Talbot
Wally Talbot and his son Howard were Blackburn based photographers working in the areas of Press, Sport and Commercial Photography from the 1930s through to the 1990s. Wally Talbot was born in 1914 and at the age of 14 he started work as a “printer's devil" at the Northern Daily Telegraph (now “The Lancashire Telegraph").  He was to become one of the paper's first staff photographers. When the Second World War started he joined the R.A.F. as an Aircraftsman.  He flew over enemy lines before and during bombing raids, identifying targets and taking photographs of the raids. He was also involved in taking public relations photographs which showed how the War was being won in order to send a positive message back home.  He met celebrities such as George Formby who were entertaining the troops. Celebrities, military leaders and royalty alike were captured on film by Wally, and later, by Howard.

After the War, Wally returned to the “Telegraph" for a few years before taking the decision to set up his own business.  He worked from home using his son, Howard's, bedroom, as a dark room and the bathroom for developing.  When the photographs were ready they were sent by train to Manchester for use in the major papers.

In 1953, the business moved to premises on Preston New Road.

Howard joined his father's business when he was 14 years old.  They were the only freelancers in the area and covered all of East Lancashire.  Saturdays were busy days with weddings in the morning and football in the afternoons.  As Howard was too young to drive when he first started work he had to rely on taxis and trains.  Sometimes, the wedding taxis would be able to take him to his next assignment!

Wally and Howard's major customers were the national newspapers who would commission them to work for them.  They worked long hours for The Daily Express, Daily Sketch and other dailies. Competition was fierce between the newspapers and they relied on freelance photographers, such as Wally and Howard, to find interesting stories and pictures.  Father and son used to work on press days at the major football clubs which involved taking team and individual photos.  Howard particularly enjoyed these as they got to meet all the famous players.

 They also provided cine film for Granada and the BBC's news programmes.

Howard continued with the business after Wally retired.  Howard's son joined him for a short time and was involved with wedding videos.  When Wally died in 1994, Howard deposited their large collection of press and commercial negatives plus exhibition photographs in Blackburn Library. (Adapted from “The Bobbin: a local history newsletter, Issue No. 1, Autumn 2001", pp 11 – 12 by Diana Rushton)

Digitisation Programme by Blackburn University

It was always the intention of Blackburn Library to digitise the collection but a partnership initiated in 2015 by Sir Bill Taylor with the Talbot family, The University Centre, Blackburn College and Blackburn Library introduced a dynamic, committed and talented combination of staff and students working on the BA (Hons) Photography degree course who relished the opportunity to work on this singularly unique collection of images. Fate sometimes plays a deft hand and one person in particular deserves mention, Peter Graham. In his own words Peter recalls: 

"I have grown up with photography really, my brother Paul Graham, who is 10 years older than me has been in the profession all his working life.  Watching my brother working during the 1970s and 1980s, I met both Wally and Howard Talbot on many occasions, and, I was lucky to see them both at work. A family portrait we have was taken by Wally. I was always amazed and watched in wonder as the films used to appear, as if by magic, in the darkroom. Since than I have had a fascination in photography and an even bigger fascination in local history, so once the Talbot Archive started to appear and I got chance to work with it, it was a dream come true."