Abstract
With the new medium of photography, it was possible to get a glimpse of the past and familiar with the far off places and distant locations. Photography allowed a more immediate connection to connection to people and places departed by geographical distance and time. The essay discusses the 19th century travel photography and the medium and techniques used by the photographers of those times. What motivated those photographers to work, where they were from and what lands did thy travel, the paper takes examples from their works, discussing the key characteristics and how those photographs became a powerful medium for documentation of places and events. The technologies behind photography evolved rapidly in the mid-nineteenth century and so did their use. A large number of travel photographers emerged on the surface because of the growing interest and the commercial angle. Those photographs are a primary documentary source of that era and through history.
Introduction
There was a rapid development seen in the nineteenth century in the field of photography. Meanwhile, there was a growing fascination with other countries and cultures, with the rise in the number of people traveling from one country to another. There were major photographic firms who worked professionally in the main travel destinations across the world such as Asia, Middle East, Greece, India, and Egypt. The travel photographers of those times produced images basically to offer information and spike curiosity and interest among travels (Global Views: Nineteenth-century photographs, 2016). The result was a higher influx of tourists and travelers who flocked to those exotic destinations and to see those ancient and medieval monuments in person. Technological developments allowed the photographers to create impressive pictures and images that not only documented archeological sites and historical monuments but also spurred an interest in them among the masses. Photographers were seen selling their work and pictures as souvenirs to the tourists. Before the travel photography, most people had little clue as to what those distant lands looked like. The travel books contained only line drawings to represent the other parts of the world.
The prevailing form of photography until the late 1850s was daguerreotypes and as there was no use of a negative, each daguerreotype was a sole and unique image. The singularity of the daguerreotype, the small size plus the distinctive glare on the surface, made it an unsuitable medium for mass production and communication. However, it met the needs of a democratic form of portraiture and millions of daguerreotypes photographic portraits were produced in 1853 as stated by Sandweiss (1991). Early photography beginning in 1840 captured important scenes of American history such as the explosive growth of San Francisco, the Gold Rush, and construction of railroads, battlefields of the Civil War, exploration of the Rocky Mountain and the plantations of the antebellum South. It recorded faces of people, places, and things, giving explanatory captions.
It is true that those unique travel photographs from the nineteenth century carry a great documentary value, especially in the architectural and social history study of the regions. Several of those archeological sites have been damaged or altered because of architectural restoration. Sometimes, the only surviving records of those historical monuments are images on glass plates and paper (Global Views: Nineteenth-century photographs, 2016). Those photographs provide insight into the golden age of travel photography of the nineteenth century. Some of the leading photographers of that era have produced an impressive body of work.
The nineteenth-century photographs seem to be from a different world. Although there is a potential similarity, but what is seen in those images is a time that has become fixed and suspended in configurations of silver. Their material difference becomes more apparent when details, textures, and tones of those images are studied in detail (Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, 2016). One is looking at a different world that was seen by a photographer in his unique way. Different photographic expeditions documented foreign wars, colonial expansion and cultural differences around the globe.
The photographs during the nineteen century were looked nothing short of miracles because of their ability to record a mirror image of the reality. Ever since, photography has played an important role in the interpretation of antiquity. Early photographers captured distant lands to arouse interest among travelers. The first photographs reveal about the photographers' sensibilities and their expressive views to that shaped their aesthetic and scientific responses. Groundbreaking archeological excavations were documented by the expeditionary photographers in the new medium as reported by Biggs (2009). Photographic reproductions in their accuracy and artistry resonated well beyond scholarly and artistic imagination and captured the interest of wider audiences.
When the first photographers visited the Mediterranean historic sites with their large cameras and huge wooden tripods in the early1840s, it was not possible to create those photographs mechanically. The required many chemicals to develop their pictures at the site. The practitioners of photography made their way to Egypt, Italy, Greece and Levant, carried by their fascination and influence far beyond their borders. Their work is seen at the intersection of history, tourism, archeology and pictorial art.
The extensive technical developments in early photography that took place in the mid-nineteenth century France motivated the early photographers. Commercial interests were never far away, and successful printing houses surfaced from 1852 to 1863 (Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, 2016). Albumen silver prints of Mont Blanc display a high degree of skill and detail with dramatic compositional effects. Those prints were made from glass negatives, sensitized and exposed on site by the photographer. There is an emphasis on textures and contrasts of the natural formations. By 1860s, there were a large number of early practitioners who began to show a keen interest in commercial advantage.
Maxime Du Camp is considered one of the photographers of Egypt who conveyed a vivid sense of the power of Egypt. The famous 19th-century travel photographer, took wooden Calotype camera, several chemicals and a tripod for his trips to distant lands. He makes no secret of the difficulties he faced during his photography days. The sand got into everything and chemicals boiled under the intense heat (Biggs, 2009). His photographic equipment often came close to getting destroyed at times. It is understandable that other nineteenth-century travel photographers too must have faced similar difficulties, whether it in America's desert. Du Camp’s pictures do not strive for the unusual angle but give a straightforward view of the Sphinx. His photograph carries a remarkably sophisticated sensibility. Du Camp's intended audience were the scholars, but there was another wider segment of community made of travelers who wanted his extraordinary pictures from Egypt. Du Camp brought hundreds of negatives back to France. Calotype photography was not very popular as it was strictly licensed by Talbot and for his patented process. Still, Du Camp recognized the benefit of Calotype for travel as reported by Meltzer (2012). The camera was easy to carry around because of its relatively small size and made use of readily available writing paper that could be partially sensitized even in a tent and conveniently stored until needed. Calotype print was much softer as it was made from the paper negative and the photographer could make any number of contact prints once he returned. In comparison, Daguerreotype was a single photograph, which was an image on a metal plate from which no copies could be made.
Felix Bonfils, another photographer from that era, emphasizes on detailed architectural view in his photographs of Temple Portico Egypt. His pictures captured the strength of the sun, the texture of the stone along with the size of the ruins (Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, 2016).
Once the camera was placed on a wooden tripod, Du Camp would duck under a black drape so as to focus on the image on the ground glass (Meltzer, 2012). In his tight darkroom tent, he would take a solution of Gallo nitrate of silver to touch the sensitized side of the writing paper. The idea was to increase the sensitivity of the paper to light. He would go back and load the paper into his camera, after blotting it dry by placing it in a light-tight holder.
Greece was another favorite spot with the earliest practitioners of photography, who went exploring those ruins and the famous city, Athens. Girault de Prangey visited the city in 1842 during his Mediterranean tour (Biggs, 2009). Prangey was fascinated with the variety of fragments and some complete monuments from Athens and Rome. He wanted to capture their details with complete accuracy. His whole-plate daguerreotype of the Parthenon and other capturing of bas-reliefs and statues from the Acropolis as well as complete monuments from Athens and Rome are remarkable work. The pictures of the temple are noteworthy as it shows the temple before renovation.
Jerusalem photographs taken by Auguste Salzmann in1854 offer an entirely different experience. The picture of the dusty road, stony ground and olive trees in Jerusalem may seem ordinary. The picture influences the understanding of a historical time and offers a highly affective experience. One can look at a different time of history that is verified by photography. The moment from the past appearing on the photograph creates a "real" moment (Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, 2016). The photographic image emphasizes the difference between the historical record and the records of the lived experience.
Henry Harrison was a keen photographer and artist from the late 19th century. The talented photographer went on tours across the globe, taking pictures and collecting specimens. His work “Boxer Rebellion” that dates to 1895 captured images of the rebellion and highlights the nature of the uprising as reported by Daily Mail Reporter (2009).His work on slides is seen as an important part of our world history. Other locations covered by him include India, Venice, Giza, Tonga, Pompeii and the West Indies. His pictures include massive cannon being unloaded, snake charmers, ships along the Suez Canal, Royal Yacht and more.
What travel photographers traveled to distant lands, they saw an unfamiliar and dangerous landscape. They had to keep away from anti-government rebels and bandits. Despite these distractions and disturbances, the photographers remained focused don their mission, producing hundreds of photographs of the ancient world. It is amazing to know that those early travel photographers operated without any measures of exposure. They learned the right exposure by trial and error techniques on those various locations, during varying times of the day and under diverse weather conditions. For example, Du Camp would take out the light slide of the holder once he found the right exposure time as Meltzer (2012) reports. He would phase the exposure time with the help of his pocket watch and then switch the cap. He would go to the darkroom to process the negative once the exposure was complete.
The 19th-century travel photographers took advantage of the rich potential of the photography in the early 1850s, paying attention to the lucrative market for tourist views. With further advancement and development of a worldwide transport routes, new opportunities for exploration and trade were provided. It was observed that photographs were one of the most popular items exchanged in the mid-nineteenth century via post.
References
Biggs, R. (2009). Antiquity and photography: Early views of ancient Mediterranean sites. by claire L. lyons et al. los angeles: The J. paul getty museum, 2005. pp. 240 + 133 figs. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 68(3), 221-221. doi:10.1086/614007
Daily Mail Reporter. (2009). Extraordinary 19th century photographs of explorer's travels unearthed - and he painted the colors himself, Daily Mail Reporter. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1213363/Extraordinary-19th-century-photographs- explorers-travels-unearthed--painted-colours-himself.html
Global Views: Nineteenth century photographs. (2016). princeton. Retrieved from http://web.princeton.edu/sites/Archaeology/rp/globalviews/index.html
Meltzer, Steve. (2012).The birth of travel photography: Du Camp and Flaubert’s 1849 trip to Egypt, North Africa and the Middle East, imaging-resource. Retrieved from http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2012/10/30/the-birth-of-travel-photography-du-camp- and-flauberts-1849-trip-to-egypt
Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide. (2016). A journal of Nineteenth-Century visual culture. Retrieved from http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/autumn10/nineteenth-century-french- photographs-from-the-national-gallery-of-canada
Sandweiss, M. (1991). Photography in Nineteenth-Century America. The Journal of Gilder Lehmann institute, Retrieved from http https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/art- music-and-film/essays/photography-nineteenth-century-america
