“Henry Peach Robinson ~ Victorian Photographer” His photographs won many awards, including Paris prestigious International Gold Medal for his portrait, shown below, When the Days Work is Done Henry Peach Robinson, born in Ludlow, Shropshire, England on 9 July 1830, was one of the most successful artistic and commercial photographers in nineteenth-century Britain. He learned photography from Dr. Hugh Diamonds instructions, which had been printed in the Journal of the Photographic Society. In 1857 Robinson opened a photographic studio, specializing in portraits. Robinson made combination prints, joining multiple negatives to create a singe image. Robinson, like many photographers of his day, felt that photography should be respected as an art form. He was one of the few who also felt that it could rival even the “greatest” of the arts—oil painting. Robinson vigorously promoted this belief through his photographs and his writing. Robinson encouraged photographers to produce images that looked like paintings. To achieve this “pictorial effect,” he felt that it was sometimes necessary to mix artificial elements with reality, including costuming his models and posing them. Robinson used combination printing to make his large artistic photographs, and it was for these works that he was the most famous, or perhaps infamous. Many critics felt that it was a dishonest practice that would ruin photography’s chances to be respected as an art. . Robinson continued an active involvement in photography. He wrote the influential Pictorial Effect in Photography, Being Hints on Composition and Chiaroscuro for Photographers, first published in 1868. In 1891 Robinson and several others formed the Linked Ring, a society of photographers who had grown disillusioned by the photographic establishment as represented by the Photographic Society. At the age of 34, ill health as a result of exposure to photographic chemicals, forced him to retire to the Kent town of Turnbridge Wells. At age 70, on 21 february 1901, he succumbed to the poisonous effects of photographic chemicals, leaving behind his wife Selina, three daughters and two sons. His contributions to the aesthetics of photography continue to inspire and educate future generations
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 21:20:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015