British Photography in the 19th Century: The Fine Art Tradition - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521341191 ISBN 13: 9780521341196

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1989

Synopsis

This book brings together a set of new essays on seventeen fine art photographers working in Britain in the nineteenth century. In every case the photographs they made contained artistic elements that carried them beyond sheer record. The photographers represented worked within various pictorial traditions. Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor, made family group portraits that derive from the eighteenth-century conversation piece; Hill and Adamson drew upon the great traditions of portraiture and genre in Scottish painting; Julia Margaret Cameron made allusion in her portraits to biblical scenes; Roger Fenton's idea of landscape beauty followed precepts laid down by the English watercolor painters; P.H. Emerson's genre studies reflected the practice of the New English Art Club; and Frederick Evans's architectural work was founded on studies of natural forms such as the spiral. Other essays introduce the centuries-long use of drawing-machines prior to the invention of photography, and the nineteenth-century search for a photomechanical process by which to render both the breadth and the detail of the photochemical print.

About this title

From Library Journal:

Editor Weaver's plea for a fresh investigation of photographic history, period by period, school by school, is impressively addressed in this collection of 22 essays by 19 scholars from the United States and Britain. Considered here are "certain British photographers, born in the nineteenth century, whose work transcended literal fact to arrive at a degree of expressive meaning." The essays are both historical, including several that address such topics as the photomechanical print and the camera obscura, and critical; indeed, those emphasizing the art of picture making and the critical/formal analysis of individual images are the most revealing. A fine select bibliography concludes the work, matching the high standard of research and writing throughout. For art history, photography, and 19th-century studies collections.
- Ann Copeland, formerly with Drew Univ. Lib., Madison, N.J.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0521341191
• ISBN 13: 9780521341196
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336
• Editor: Weaver Mike