The cross section for φ meson photoproduction on the proton has been measured for the first time up to a four-momentum transfer −t=4GeV2, using the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. At low four-momentum transfer, the differential cross section is well described by Pomeron exchange. At large four-momentum transfer, above −t=1.8GeV2, the data support a model where the Pomeron is resolved into its simplest component, two gluons, which may couple to any quark in the proton and in the φ.