The promise of Talbot's negative-positive process, and its principal advantage over the daguerreotype, was the printing and distribution of large editions of photographic prints. To encourage the mass production of paper photographs, in early 1844 Talbot supported Nicolaas Henneman, his former valet, in establishing the first commercial photographic printing firm, in Reading, England. The activities of the Reading establishment are shown in this two-part image. Talbot, operating the large camera at center left, removes the lens cap to make a portrait of a seated gentleman, while on the right Henneman photographs a sculpture of the Three Graces. Other employees are shown copying an engraving (far left); standing in the doorway with a second camera—back loaded with sensitized paper; and attending glass frames that hold negatives and photographic paper in contact for printing in sunlight (center right). At far right a man handles a focimeter, a device that helped photographers focus their pictures.