Nineteenth-century Photography Research Articles

Picture rocks: American Indian rock art in the northeast woodlands

Located along rivers, at the edges of lakes, on mountain boulders, in rock shelters, on rock ledges where the continent meets the ocean, and tucked into parks and public places, American Indian rock art offers tantilizing glimpses of the signs and symbols of a Native American culture. Picture Rocks documents all known permanent petroglyph and pictograph sites from the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the six New England states, New York, and New Jersey. Some sites are subject to disputes over their origins--Indian or Portuguese? Some are ancient, and others, such as the work of the Mi'kmaq, were executed in the past 200 years. Many of these sites are little known; others, like those at Bellows Falls, Vermont, are sources of great local pride and appear on city walking tours. Interspersing his own interpretations with comments from scholars and Native American storytellers, Edward J. Lenik provides a definitive look at an extraordinary art form. Two hundred illustrations include historic sketches by early Euro-American colonists, nineteenth-century photographs, and recent photographs and drawings of the current conditions of many sites.

Where the Paranoid Meets the Paranormal: Speculations on Spirit Photography

One of the most fascinating genres in the history of nineteenth-century photography is the suspect practice of spirit photography. It was “discovered” by a Boston engraver turned photographer named William H. Mumler in March 1861, when he took a photograph of himself alone in his studio only to find that a second figure (or spirit extra), described by some accounts as the ghost image of his dead cousin, appeared next to him on the developed plate. With its origins set against the background of life (and death) during the Civil War, spirit photography would help many mourners cope with the tragic losses around them.

‘Mountain Nymph’ and ‘Damnèd Villain’

The traditional view of the nineteenth-century portrait and genre photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–79) is that she was an eccentric amateur — a kind of photographic ‘Sunday painter’. Elsewhere in this issue, Kirsten Hoving offers a fascinating diagnosis of Cameron's eccentricity, while I sincerely hope that the newly published catalogue raisonné of her work, which more than doubles the number of her known pictures, demonstrates that she was far from being a hit-and-miss amateur.1 Amateurs, however serious, can often be said to play with their chosen medium, are liable to fail as often as they succeed, and have no interest in making money from it. Cameron, by contrast, worked carefully, deliberately and knowledgeably towards her most accomplished results — usually the thoughtful culmination of a sequence of pictures, ideas and experiments — and she very much hoped to make money from them, usually in vain.

The Neurdein Fréres and the photography of medieval architecture

For those engaged in the study of historic architecture, nineteenth-century photography has been an essential avenue of research. For many scholars nineteenth-century photographs continue to be documents of choice for publication and research, both for their frequent superiority to modern photographs and for the evidence they supply of buildings and their structural features that have been altered or obliterated. The superiority of early photographs of historic architecture has a foundation, apart from their technical excellence, in their makers' knowledge of the buildings and in the cultural centrality of these structures that have no real equivalent in photography today. From the beginning the first generation of photographers in Paris elevated architecture to a distinguished category, in part because the technical capabilities of photography in the first two decades of its development were ideally suited to the photographing of still subjects in wide-angle view. More important, there was a very early association of photography with efforts to classifY, preserve and revere the monuments of France. 1 The revival of interest in the Middle Ages, initially an expression of romantic nationalism, corresponded almost precisely to the advent of photography in France. Much of the pioneering work was done in the service of recording monuments of the Romanesque and Gothic styles, together seen as the pure expression of a native French architectural idiom. The experimental photographers who created and recreated the medium in its infancy all produced master series of national monuments — Henri le Secq at Chartres, Reims and Strasbourg, Charles Nègre at Chartres and in Romanesque sites in Provence, Edouard Baldus in his albums of Romanesque architecture in Burgundy and the Rhone Valley, Charles Marville in Paris, and the Bisson freres in Gothic monuments of Paris and Rouen.

Muybridge in motion: Travels in art, psychology and neurology

Eadweard J. Muybridge (1830–1904) stands as a leading figure of nineteenth-century photography.1 Best known for his artistic and scientific application of photography to capture animals in motion, Muybridge is also recognized as an ingenious inventor and one of the finest landscape photographers of the West. 2 Most formidable amongst his landscape photography is his interpretation of Yosemite Valley. He, along with Charles Weed and Carleton Watkins, was one of the first to venture into Yosenlite, capture its magnificence, and bring it back to the general public. With respect to his inventive genius, Muybridge subnlitted patents for many of his innovations, including the shutter system to capture motion and one of the earliest motion picture projectors, which he called the zoopraxiscope. This device consisted of a lamp, lens and glass disk. To animate his images, Muybridge mounted on the disk impressions of his sequential shots of a trotting horse. When Muybridge rotated the disk in the device, observers could actually watch the horse in motion.

Francis Wey and the Discourse of Photography as Art in France in the Early 1850s: ‘Rien n’est beau que le vrai; mais il faut le choisir’

In the last two decades writers on photography have been critical of the practice of designating nineteenth–century photography as art, exposing it as part of the modernist enterprise of stripping the photographs of their utilitarian and social functions – or at least reducing the importance of those functions – so that they can enter the realm of high art in a purified state. However, photography as art was one of the discourses that developed in the nineteenth century. The beginnings of this discourse in France are the subject of this article, specifically, the writings of Francis Wey, writer, linguist, critic and member of the Société héliographique, which was founded in 1851 to promote photography. This article examines Wey’s attempts to situate photography within a general aesthetic discourse in which traditional principles of harmony are reconciled with Realist aims.

:Becoming: The Photographs of Clementina, Viscountess Hawarden;The Politics of Focus: Women, Children and Nineteenth-century Photography

:Becoming: The Photographs of Clementina, Viscountess Hawarden;The Politics of Focus: Women, Children and Nineteenth-century Photography

Barbarian Lens: Western Photographers of the Qianlong Emperor's European Palaces (review)

Reviewed by: Barbarian Lens: Western Photographers of the Qianlong Emperor's European Palaces Joanne Y. Yamada (bio) Regine Thiriez . Barbarian Lens: Western Photographers of the Qianlong Emperor's European Palaces. Amsterdam: The Netherlands: Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1998. 191 pp. Hardcover $68.00, ISBN 90-5700-519-0. Regine Thiriez' Barbarian Lens: Western Photographers of the Qianlong Emperor's European Palaces exemplifies the highest level of scholarly curiosity. Her research, conducted from 1987 to 1994, focused on the photographic record of the European Palaces of the Yuanmingyuan, designed in a European style of architecture during the mid-eighteenth century by Jesuit missionaries who were employed by the emperor of China. During the seven years of her research, Thiriez' pursuit of images of the European Palaces took her to libraries and archives in London, Edinburgh, and Belfast in the United Kingdom, and to the German cities of Hildesheim, Uslar, and Hamburg. She also hunted through basements and forgotten shelves in Toronto, Boston, Washington, DC, and Rochester, New York. The result of this effort is more than a retelling of the story of the Summer Palace. Thiriez includes a historical background, including the circumstances that [End Page 551] brought the Western photographers to China, and her detailed account includes descriptions of the walled city of Beijing and the Forbidden City within it and the city of Shanghai, the latter having become an international center by the 1870s. By 1874, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and the United States were represented in Beijing. The author comments on the differences in lifestyle between Beijing and Shanghai, at one point using the membership of the Asiatic Society to illustrate, parenthetically, that the atmosphere in Shanghai may have been one of internationalism "but not of universalism since, of course, no Chinese was invited to join" (p. 20). Facts of this kind, of course, are well known to all sinophiles, but Thiriez' primary objective was to search for photographs of the European Palaces and not to rewrite the history of the Western entry into China. The only Westerners who saw the Yuanmingyuan in its original grandeur were the Jesuit priests in China during the eighteenth century who served as astronomers, mathematicians, geographers, painters, or clockmakers. Thiriez' thoroughness in her research is displayed in the way she picks up even the smallest details, such as the "minor incident"—a reference to when the Qianlong emperor noticed a fountain in a European picture in 1747. It was this that inspired the construction of the European Palaces. Thiriez speculates on what one of these palaces may have looked like: One could not miss its grandeur, its feeling of otherworldliness. Under the Beijing sun, the palace came alive. White marble glittered, glazed tiles sparkled, gray stone and brick in relief against the blue sky. Evergreens completed the frame. (p. 38) The retelling of the destruction of the legendary Summer Palace by British and French troops in the dawn of October 6, 1860, is also detailed and supported by footnote references. However, the historical accounts and Thiriez' reconstruction of events, based on her research, are not the featured subject of her book. Rather, they serve to frame the quiet drama of the aftermath of the looting and torching of this legendary Summer Palace during the last of the opium wars. The mute witnesses to this aftermath are the extant photographs taken by nine Western men from seven countries who had entered China for a variety of reasons and whose collective stay spanned some sixty-five years. Thiriez begins with a general review of the research on early photography in China. At the start of her own project, only five studies had been published on this subject, and only two nineteenth-century photographers had been studied extensively. These were Felice (Felix) Beato and John Thompson, on whom Thiriez provides background information. It is known that Beato was the semiofficial photographer of the British army during the China Campaign, and Thiriez gives an in-depth description of his portfolio. Her analysis of Beato's body of work exemplifies her ability to critique his photographs in the context of their [End Page 552] reproduction and distribution. There are 102...

The Donjon at Avranches (Normandy)

The identification of an eighteenth-century plan and a set of nineteenth-century photographs, in conjunction with a new survey of its remains, has permitted the reinterpretation of an early eleventh-century building at Avranches, in the Département of Manche, Normandy. This has shown that it measured 37 m by at least 27 m, was at least 16 m high, and that it can be considered as a donjon or ‘keep’, or, as now more usually termed, a ‘tour maîtresse’ or ‘great tower’. The remains of the building and its interpretation are described, with the aid of plans and the key material referred to above. Among the largest ‘great towers’ known (at least in plan) and one of the three known pre-Conquest examples in the Duchy, it is of great significance to the rapidly advancing study of this class of building.

The Politics of Focus: Women, Children and Nineteenth-Century Photography (review)

The Politics of Focus: Women, Children and Nineteenth-Century Photography (review)

Photographers in Andean visual culture

One of the most striking facts of Andean cultural history is the virtual absence, until the last quarter of the nineteenth century, of local representations of the natural scenery of the Andes. 1 Indeed, landscape as a form of visual and literary representation only entered the Andean region towards the end of the century, evolving, even since then, as a fragile and marginal tradition.2 But the mounting interest in nineteenth-century Andean photography since the late 1970s has revealed a series of views of local scenery associated with railroad development and scientific exploration that appears to deny this general statement.3 At first glance, this expanded visual repertory could allow us to name photography as the single most important medium for representing landscape in the region. Yet this initial impression is deceptive. Careful observation demonstrates that the landscape itself is rarely the main subject of these photographs and that natural scenery surfaces only as a subsidiary element that frames and contains other narratives.

Staging masculinity: Late nineteenth century photographs of indigenous men

(2000). Staging masculinity: Late nineteenth century photographs of indigenous men. Journal of Australian Studies: Vol. 24, Vision Splendid, pp. 129-137.

Shorter Reviews

Books reviewed:Anthony Snodgrass Homer and the Artists: Text and Picture in Early Greek ArtFrancis Ames‐Lewis Tuscan Marble Carving 1250–1350. Sculpture and Civic PrideFrank Fehrenbach Licht und Wasser, Zur Dynamik Naturphilosopher Leitbilder im Wek Leonardo da VincisChristiana Payne Rustic Simplicity: Scenes of Cottage Life in Nineteenth‐Century British ArtLinsay Smith The Politics of Focus: Women, Children and Nineteenth‐Century Photography

Sigfús Eymundsson 1837–1911: Icelandic Landscape Photography

Sigfús Eymundsson (1837–1911), the most persevering and successful of nineteenth-century Icelandic photographers, cuts a colourful and even somewhat enigmatic figure. At the age of twenty, he journeyed to Denmark and Norway to study bookbinding, and later photography at Bergen in 1864-65, returning to Iceland during the summer of 1866 after almost a decade abroad. In the following autumn, he settled in Reykjavik, supporting himself as a bookbinder during the winter, as was his habit in the early days of his practice, recommencing photography at the start of summer. Reykjavik was at this time a small and unimpressive town with roughly 1900 inhabitants, half of whom still lived in turf cottages.1 Despite this very limited market, three photographers had previously tried to set up a practice there.2 Eymundsson opened his first studio in the spring of 1867 but did not become firmly entrenched until some four years later, mostly because his interests turned to other activities in the intervening period. The studio remained in operation for over 40 years until 1909, making Eymundsson the first photographer to establish himself successfully in Iceland. The National Museum of Iceland currently preserves a total of 14 600 plates and original copies from the Eymundsson collection,3 of which roughly 830 are photographs taken outside the studio. Approximately 20–25% of the latter can be classified as landscape photographs, but it seems likely that these were originally somewhat more numerous. Almost all of these plates are undated and in most cases it is impossible to tell who the actual photographer was, i.e. whether it was Eymundsson himself or one of his employees (figures 1–5).

Foreign Bodies: Representing the African and the European in an Early Twentieth Century ‘Contact Zone’

Photography has long been important in geography and has contributed to many ‘imaginative geographies’. Prom the late nineteenth century photography recorded and communicated the peoples and places of Africa to a European public. It was implied that much of this photography sought an ‘accurate’ image of the ‘dark continent’. However, Europeans often included themselves in photographs ostensibly intended to illustrate Africa or ‘the African’. Examples from early twentieth century Rwanda provide ‘ways of seeing’ such photographs and their captions. A ‘visual analysis’ of photographs of Tulsi athletes illustrates a variety of ‘readings’. While amplifying the power of the European they may also be read as a form of resistance on the part of the African.

The Truth of Appearances

Review| December 01 1998 The Truth of Appearances: Nineteenth-Century Photography at the Getty The Art of the Daguerreotype, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California, April 14-July 12, 1998Framing the Asian Shore: Nineteenth-Century, Photographs of the Ottoman Empire, Getty Research Institute for the History of Art, and the Humanities, Los Angeles, California, March 28-June 30, 1998The Silver Canvas: Daguerreotype Masterpieces, From the J. Paul Getty Museum, by Bates Lowry and Isabel Barrett Lowry, Los Angeles: The Getty Museum, 1998, 240 pp./$80.00 (hb) Abigail Solomon-Godeau Abigail Solomon-Godeau Abigail Solomon-Godeau is Professor of Art History at UC-Santa Barbara. She is the author of Photography at the Dock Essays on Photographic History, Institutions and Practices (1992) and Male Trouble: A Crisis in Representation (1997). Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Afterimage (1998) 26 (3): 9–11. https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.1998.26.3.9 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Abigail Solomon-Godeau; The Truth of Appearances: Nineteenth-Century Photography at the Getty. Afterimage 1 December 1998; 26 (3): 9–11. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.1998.26.3.9 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAfterimage Search This content is only available via PDF. © 1998 by The Regents of the University of California1998 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Revealing the Holy Land: the photographic exploration of Palestine

This is the catalogue for an exhibition of ninety nineteenth-century photographs drawn primarily from the world-class collection of Michael G. Wilson. Included are the starkly beautiful photographs of Sergeant James McDonald's surveys of Palestine and Jerusalem; recently discovered photographs by Ernest Benecke; and, the rare photographs by Maxime Du Camp taken in 1850 as he travelled with Flaubert. With the invention of photography and the increasing popularity of travel in the mid-nineteenth century, the Holy Land became one of the most photographed places on earth. Interest in Jerusalem and Palestine was particularly pronounced in England, partly because of England's need to control its routes to the riches of India, but also because of Britain's cultural identification with the people and lands of the Bible. Imperial ambition and deeply ingrained cultural associations resulted in a surge of photographic activity in Palestine.McDonald's photographs from surveys of Jerusalem and the Sinai epitomize the dual imperatives of Bible and Empire. Photography provided a new standard for authenticity in pictorial representations. Early photographs were considered the ultimate bearers of 'reality' at a time when viewers had not yet lost their naive faith in the objective accuracy of photography. Throughout the last half of the nineteenth century, the Holy Land drew legions of photographers: amateurs recording a stop on the Grand Tour, academics pursuing archaeological theories, military surveyors - all trying to capture the truthfulness of a land that had enormous spiritual, emotional, and political connotations for most of the Western world. What they saw, and how they saw it, are the themes of this beautifully recorded collection.

As Artes de um Negócio: no Mundo da Técnica Fotográfica do Século XIX

Os manuais de fotografia do século XIX servem, neste artigo, para elaborar uma discussão a cerca da produção, do consumo e da circulação de retratos fotográficos no século XIX. Em suas páginas, podemos encontrar como conceitos artísticos e estilísticos eram utilizados por fotógrafos para a satisfação dos desejos de uma clientela ávida em compor sua própria imagem, conforme seus desejos, sonhos, ideologia, cultura, posição social.

Thomson's China. Travels and adventures of a nineteenth-century photographer. By John Thomson, with an introduction and new illustration selection by Judith Balmer. pp. xxiii, 16 pl., pp. vii, 225, illus., maps. Hong Kong etc., Oxford University Press, 1993, £20.00.

Thomson's China. Travels and adventures of a nineteenth-century photographer. By John Thomson, with an introduction and new illustration selection by Judith Balmer. pp. xxiii, 16 pl., pp. vii, 225, illus., maps. Hong Kong etc., Oxford University Press, 1993, £20.00. - Volume 6 Issue 1

Nineteenth-century Italian photography: Selected bibliography

Nineteenth-century Italian photography: Selected bibliography