Photography: A Friend or Foe

Shortly after the invention of photography, the new medium faced its first identity crisis.

The main questions considered were its purpose, status, and safety. In short, the Victorians asked themselves whether photography was a friend or foe.

While photography was born from both art and science, many considered its role in relation to these disciplines.

In 1882, the British Journal of Photographic News referred to the new medium as a “handmaiden” to science, while numerous publications demonstrated its usefulness in the modern world and its developing technology. (https://jennifergtucker.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Photography-Modern-Science-1.pdf)

On the other hand, artists feared photography’s impact on the nature of fine arts and the economic situation of artists. On different occasions, Charles Baudelaire referred to it as an “industry,” a “refuge for all failed painters,” and a “mortal enemy of real art.”

Many people, including some 19th-century luminaries, feared photography. According to Balzac, “every time someone had his photograph taken, one of the spectral layers was removed from the body and transferred to the photograph. Repeated exposures led to the inevitable loss of subsequent ghostly layers, that is, the very essence of life.” (Nadar. When I Was a Photographer)

At the same time, the British royal family, especially Prince Albert, famously supported photography and founded numerous institutions aimed at sparking public interest in photography and elevating its status. Together with Queen Victoria, he was a patron of the Royal Photographic Society and during his life, he collected and commissioned over 10,000 photographs. In the 1860s, the Prince of Wales took a trip to the Middle East in the company of the celebrated British photographer Francis Bedford. The photographs of Egypt and Syria brought back from this trip caused a sensation.

Moreover, Pope Leo XIII was an enthusiastic daguerreotypist. He not only authored an ode to photography but also ordered the decoration of the ceiling of the Galleria dei Candelabri in the Vatican with a fresco showing an allegory of photography, standing in line just after painting to receive a blessing from the Church.

The conflicting notions about photography found their reflection in the way it was portrayed in 19th-century media, with humor as the main line of defense against fear. Next week, I will write about photography-related drollery and satire.