Victora and Albert Museum - A history of photography

In the Summer holiday I visited the V&A museum which had a little exhibition going on called The history of photography. Within this exhibition they gave a incite into what photography was like at different years in the past such as Modernism and After the war personal vision these are just a few of the headings in the exhibition. The exhibition actually included some artists id researched previously for example some works of Man ray, which was actually very different to the works I've seen of his before. I overall thought this exhibition was very interesting as it showed me how photography has evolved over the years and how it is still evolving now with new technology and some old methods.

 
 
 

This is a work by Benjamin Brecknell Turnell the piece is called 'Three Fishermen' and was produced around 1850.

 This Photograph is actually an early example of a technique we now call solarisation, but back then they did the method a slightly different way, Benjamin actually had to take out a license before he could do this technique by its inventor William Henry Fox.

 This back in the 1850s was called Paper negative or calotype and they were actually made by waxing a negative to make it translucent and then placing it in contact with a second sheet of sensitized paper and leaving it in the sun. This differs from Solarisation in the 21st Century as we now use a enlarger to expose the image on a piece of photography paper and once exposed for a limited amount of time we dip it into the developer wait till a faint version of the photograph to appear then, we place it back on the enlarger completely exposed to the light for the magic to happen and before the image gets too dark it goes back into the developer for a short amount of time, then the fix and so forth.

 I like the way the method of Solarisation has evolved amongst time but I'm sure there will be a few people that still prefer to do this the old fashioned way. Regardless I thought this piece was very interesting and if I might say kind of sinister in a way as you reverse the black and whites in the photograph the fishermen's eyes go pure white which is quite scary looking almost like they are some sort of a ghost . Also the way the men are all standing together with similar clothing which probably would have been the normality in those days but to me they again fit into this sinister horror movie snapshot they actually to me look like three scary crows with there basket hats and stiff stances.

 

This Photo was done by a man named Henry Peach Robinson, It was named 'When the Days work is done' this was created in 1877.

I was stunned when I read the info on this photograph it was actually made by using 6 different negatives I honesty think that, that's amazing for something so old to be so clever and creative and they don't even have the technology yet to make that process easier, What also impressed me is that this photograph looks genuine I was standing directing in front of it and if I didn't read the info I would of easily believed this was a ordinary print I congratulate it on being so well put together.

This is a Photograph created by a photographer named Paul Tanqueray, the photo is named 'Gertrude Lawrence' and was produced around 1930.Tanqueray is most famous for producing what were said to be the most stylish society photographs of the 1920s to 1930s.

The woman featured in this photograph was actually named Gertrude Lawrence she was a famous English actress, singer, dancer and Musical comedy performer known for her stage performances at London's west end and a New York's Broadway.

I like the way he has captured her pose in this photograph it really portrays her profession in acting and dancing.

This photo is by a woman named Eve Arnold made around 1965 it is called "The meeting of the brides of Christ on their wedding day to their lord at the nunnery in god aiming. surrey".

I like this piece because it was quite sinister also with the brides all gathered like this in a circle almost looks like they are planning a evil deed, I think its also because all the dresses look very much similar so that for me adds to the creep.

I found the title of this piece very peculiar as I haven't seen a title so long so far I think it emphasizes god and religion a lot in it which is quite concerning because is Arnold actually trying to tell us its not very godly at all.

Although this don't respond to my chosen pathway I felt motivated to showcase these aswell as for my first AS assignment I did something soo similar to this and I actually like the concept of capturing writing in black and white film. I think this is something I would definitely do again but with a creative twist. 

Nether the lest these photographs were produced by Robert Johnbrown he claimed that these photographs were taken on one trip around London as inspiration for his typography he also mentioned that these signs show weather, wit, bad spelling , necessity  and good loud repetition that can put a sort of music into the streets when we walk.

 

These are the last two photographs I particularly liked. These were taken by a man named Robert Doisneau these photographs were named 'Café noir et blanc' which I think translates to black and white coffee then there's the second one which was named 'Le petit Balcon' which is again French for the small balcony.

Doisneau is said to produce images that reveal moments of human nature and they are filled with warmth, feeling and wit. As far as I can tell this speculation is quite accurate both these images capture human nature within location one of which is in a coffee shop the other which is in a crowded room noted as a small balcony. What I particularly like about these pieces is that they both look like stills from a movie i can see action in both of them awaiting to happen in the coffee shop its a interesting conversation between two gentlemen or a rather large spillage of coffee due to the waitresses clumsiness in the photo below I see either a dace off about to start or a bet in which everyone sits and waits in awe for the designated player to take there turn.

Overall I really enjoyed this exhibition there was so much to look at and read, But to conclude this Exhibition has kind of informed me that darkroom photography hasn't really changed significantly our new technologies over time have allowed us to perfect already discovered techniques', but in a way I think that is a good thing its like passing on a great grand mothers special cookie recipe along the family line each person perfecting it to meet their specific standards or to perfect it to make I better which is the exact explanation of the pathway of Darkroom Photography.