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Salt print of a Cuneiform clay tablet

1854

Set of 24 Early Photographs of Incidents in the Crimean War

1855-1856

Pasha and Bayadere

1858

An albumen print photograph of his photographic van, taken by Roger Fenton in 1855. In 1854 Fenton bought a former wine-merchant's van and converted it into a mobile darkroom. That autumn he travelled around Britain testing the suitability of the van. In February 1855, Fenton, together with his van and his assistant, Marcus Sparling, set sail for the Crimea. Sparling is the figure shown seated at the front of the van.

Roger Fenton's Photographic Van

1855

Five sheets of photographic prints from waxed paper negatives on albumenized paper. Roger Fenton.

Five Sheets of Albumen Prints From Waxed Paper Negatives

circa 1854

A salt paper print photograph from a calotype negative entitled 'Cuneiform Clay Tablet', taken by Roger Fenton, c. 1854. The photograph shows a stone tablet, engraved with Cuneiform script an early form of writing that originated around the 34th century BCE. The tablet was excavated at Kuyunjik, within the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, now in Iraq. In 1853 the British Museum asked Fenton to document parts of their collection and establish a photographic studio at the museum. Dozens of objects had to be carried up to the rooftop studio, and Fenton had to devise a way using the available light effectively, one answer was to place his camera in a box with curtains, which acted as a lens hood. Fenton went on to take many photographs of classical busts, skeletons, Assyrian tablets and other works of art at the museum.

Cuneiform Clay Tablet

circa 1854

A salt paper print photograph from a calotype negative entitled 'Cuneiform Clay Tablet', taken by Roger Fenton, c. 1854. The photograph shows a stone tablet, engraved with Cuneiform script an early form of writing that originated around the 34th century BCE. The tablet was excavated at Kuyunjik, within the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, now in Iraq. In 1853 the British Museum asked Fenton to document parts of their collection and establish a photographic studio at the museum. Dozens of objects had to be carried up to the rooftop studio, and Fenton had to devise a way using the available light effectively, one answer was to place his camera in a box with curtains, which acted as a lens hood. Fenton went on to take many photographs of classical busts, skeletons, Assyrian tablets and other works of art at the museum.

Cuneiform Clay Tablet

circa 1854

A salt paper print photograph entitled 'Cuneiform Clay Tablet', taken by Roger Fenton, c. 1854.

Cuneiform Clay Tablet

circa 1854

An albumen print photograph entitled 'Cantiniere', taken by Roger Fenton in 1855. Cantinieres were attached to every French regiment. They were often the wives of soldiers and managed canteens as well as selling additional rations. Each carried a small barrel of brandy from which they sold tots to the troops. Their dress followed closely that of their regiment. This cantiniere was attached to a zouave regiment and wore baggy trousers beneath her coat. Fenton's problems using wet collodion plates in the field are well documented. This image shows how difficult it was to keep the sticky collodion emulsion 'pure': the dark spot on the tarpaulin left of her head shows where it has been snagged.

Cantiniere

1855

Salted paper print from wet collodion negative of Osborne House by Roger Fenton, 1855, with handwritten dedication by Prince Albert to the architect, Thomas Cubitt

Osborne House

1855

An albumen print photograph entitled 'Two Sergeants of the 4th Light Dragoons', taken by Roger Fenton in 1855. This photograph was taken as a result of commission from the British Government and the publisher Thomas Agnew, for Fenton to record the progress and conditions of the Crimean War.

Two Sergeants of the 4th Light Dragoons

1855

Albumen print entitled 'The Valley of the Shadow of Death' by Roger Fenton, 1855.

The Valley of the Shadow of Death

1855

An albumen print photograph entitled 'Omar Pasha' (1806-1871), taken by Roger Fenton in 1855.

Omar Pasha

1855

A salt print photograph entitled 'Summer Meeting of the Photographic Society at Hampton Court', taken by Roger Fenton (1819-1869) in July 1856, with handwritten details of all members of the society. Roger Fenton was a founding member of the Royal Photographic Society and one of the most influential photographers of the 1850s. He is best known as one of the first war photographers, from his work in the Crimea in 1855. However, he also took many highly-regarded photographs of the Royal Family and the collections of the British Museum as well as many superb landscapes, architectural studies and still lifes.

Summer Meeting of the Photographic Society at Hampton Court

1856-07

Seven photographic prints on salted paper: 2 views of windmill; 2 views of Russian cottage; 2 views of Russian post house; 1 view of ruined interior.

Seven photographic prints on salted paper

A salt paper print photograph from a calotype negative entitled 'Cuneiform Clay Tablet', taken by Roger Fenton, c. 1854. The photograph shows a stone tablet, engraved with Cuneiform script an early form of writing that originated around the 34th century BCE. The tablet was excavated at Kuyunjik, within the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, now in Iraq. In 1853 the British Museum asked Fenton to document parts of their collection and establish a photographic studio at the museum. Dozens of objects had to be carried up to the rooftop studio, and Fenton had to devise a way using the available light effectively, one answer was to place his camera in a box with curtains, which acted as a lens hood. Fenton went on to take many photographs of classical busts, skeletons, Assyrian tablets and other works of art at the museum.

Cuneiform Clay Tablet

circa 1854

A salt paper print photograph entitled 'Cuneiform Clay Tablet', taken by Roger Fenton, c. 1854. The photograph shows a stone tablet, engraved with Cuneiform script an early form of writing that originated around the 34th century BCE. The tablet was excavated at Kuyunjik, within the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, now in Iraq. In 1853 the British Museum asked Fenton to document parts of their collection and establish a photographic studio at the museum. Dozens of objects had to be carried up to the rooftop studio, and Fenton had to devise a way using the available light effectively, one answer was to place his camera in a box with curtains, which acted as a lens hood. Fenton went on to take many photographs of classical busts, skeletons, Assyrian tablets and other works of art at the museum.

Cuneiform Clay Tablet

c. 1854

A salt paper print photograph from a calotype negative entitled 'Cuneiform Clay Tablet', taken by Roger Fenton, c. 1854. The photograph shows a stone tablet, engraved with Cuneiform script an early form of writing that originated around the 34th century BCE. The tablet was excavated at Kuyunjik, within the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, now in Iraq. In 1853 the British Museum asked Fenton to document parts of their collection and establish a photographic studio at the museum. Dozens of objects had to be carried up to the rooftop studio, and Fenton had to devise a way using the available light effectively, one answer was to place his camera in a box with curtains, which acted as a lens hood. Fenton went on to take many photographs of classical busts, skeletons, Assyrian tablets and other works of art at the museum.

Cuneiform Clay Tablet

circa 1854

A salt paper print photograph from a calotype negative entitled 'Cuneiform Clay Tablet', taken by Roger Fenton, c. 1854. The photograph shows a stone tablet, engraved with Cuneiform script an early form of writing that originated around the 34th century BCE. The tablet was excavated at Kuyunjik, within the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, now in Iraq. In 1853 the British Museum asked Fenton to document parts of their collection and establish a photographic studio at the museum. Dozens of objects had to be carried up to the rooftop studio, and Fenton had to devise a way using the available light effectively, one answer was to place his camera in a box with curtains, which acted as a lens hood. Fenton went on to take many photographs of classical busts, skeletons, Assyrian tablets and other works of art at the museum.

Cuneiform Clay Tablet

circa 1854