Seminar 2 - Foreign Travelers and English Naturalists

Around this period there were images being taken of autopsies. People didn’t usually tend to see that sort of thing. Cameras could be used to finally see what happens during these sorts of procedures.

Frederick Scott Archer (1813-1857) invented the wet collodion process in 1851. This process made it far easier to take portraits of people indoors as before it took 5-10 minutes outside in bright sunlight.

Charles Dodgson, a writer, reverend and photographer went by the name of ‘Lewis Carroll’ and wrote the ‘Alice In Wonderland’ series based on Alice Liddell in 1859. The opening paragraphs in the book relate to the camera. The rabbit running represents the lens and passing from the real world into another world. The other world is in fact inside the camera, where everything is upside down due to mirrors and reflections.

Andre Adolphe-Eugene Disderi came up with carte-de-visite (calling cards) in 1845. These carte-de-visites were a way for people to promote themselves. People looking away from the lens, averting their gaze gives us permission to look at them. It makes them the object. It makes us a voyer as we take pleasure out of looking secretly.

Census of photographers at this time

Photography was not recorded as a profession but it is known that at least 3 professional establishments operated in London in 1841.
The 1851 census includes 51 photographers.
The 1861 census includes 2,534 photographers a definite understatement which excludes dabblers and the thousands who were employed in the trade.

Roger Fenton was commissioned to photograph war. This was quite deceitful though as the photos did not show everything. It was the British version of the heroicism in Crimea. It didn’t really show the horrors of war.

‘The Valley of The Shadow of Death’, a photograph taken in 1855 was controversial because it was set up. 2 photographs exist of this scene. This is the first image we know of that was a deliberate deception. He actually moved the cannonballs to be seen in the image.