Sarah Anne Bright

Sarah Anne Bright (1793–1866) was a 19th-century English artist and photographer who produced the earliest surviving photographic images taken by a woman. Images she had produced were not attributed to her until 2015 when her initials were discovered on a photogram that was previously consigned to an auction at Sotheby's in New York. Biography Bright lived in Bristol, England, one of nine children born to Richard Bright (1754–1840) and Sarah Heywood Bright. Her father was a wealthy merchant and banker, and he is known to had a strong interest in science. In 1823 he was one of the founders of the Bristol Institution for the Advancement of Science, Literature and the Arts. Little else is known about Sarah Anne Bright's life. Her role as an early photographer was discovered after a group of photographs known as the Quillan Collection was offered for sale at Sotheby's auction house in New York in 2008. The collection was assembled during 1988–1990 by private photography dealer Jill Quasha.