Color and Victorian Photography

A curated selection of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century sources describing the first one-hundred years of color photography, tracing both its scientific developments and setbacks, and its grip on the imagination of philosophers, writers and artists.

Nineteenth-century photography is usually thought of in terms of ‘black and white’ images, but intense experimentation with generating and fixing colors pre-dated the public announcement of the daguerreotype in 1839.Nineteenth-century photography is usually thought of in terms of ‘black and white’ images, but intense experimentation with generating and fixing colors pre-dated the public announcement of the daguerreotype in 1839. Introducing readers to the long, frequently overlooked story of the relationship of color to photography, this short anthology of primary sources includes: accounts of the scientific search for color by Elizabeth Fulhame and Sir John Herschel;photographers' views on color; extracts from the photographic press and from manuals on handcoloring; and accounts by critics such as John Ruskin. The volume provides a fresh perspective on the culture, history and theory of early photography, demonstrating why scientists, philosophers, photographers, literary writers and artists were so fascinated by the potential for polychrome in photographs. With an introductory essay arguing that from the earliest days of photography the prospect of color loomed large in the imagination of its creators, users and critics, this reader is an essential resource for students and scholars wanting to gain a full understanding of nineteenth-century photography and its relationship to art history, literature and culture.