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Camera Portraits: Photographs from the National Portrait Gallery, London, 1839-1989
Drawn from the National Portrait Gallery in London, one of the great collections of photographs in the world, this exquisitely reproduced album features 150 prominent figures from Britain's past and present. This stunning collection of historic portraits--some famous, others rarely
seen--marks the 150th anniversary of the invention of photography, providing not only an engaging survey of its development from the earliest daguerreotypes onward, but also a fascinating pictorial Who's Who of British culture from Queen Victoria to Princess Di.
Featuring a preface by Alan Fern, Director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., this volume presents an unprecedented gathering of great portraits. There are major figures from literature, ranging from Charles Dickens and Thomas Carlyle, to D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, to
Graham Greene and T.S. Eliot; scientists such as Michael Faraday and Charles Darwin; influential thinkers Bertrand Russell and John Ruskin; political figures including Winston Churchill and Harold Macmillan; artists such as James Whistler, Aubrey Beardsley, and David Hockney; and entertainment
figures from Lillie Langtry and John Gielgud to the Beatles and Sting. And the photographers themselves assemble their own Who's Who of masters, including Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll, Edward Steichen, Man Ray, Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, and Cornell Capa.
Not the least of this book's charm is the delightfully informative commentary Rogers provides for each sitter and photographer, capsule biographies filled with amusing asides (Florence Nightingale, for instance, thought her portrait looked like "Medea after killing her children"). But the
true appeal of the book, the attraction, is simply turning page after page and coming face to face with another figure of Britain's past, staring out at us in defiance of time, captured forever in the thinnest layer of chemicals.
seen--marks the 150th anniversary of the invention of photography, providing not only an engaging survey of its development from the earliest daguerreotypes onward, but also a fascinating pictorial Who's Who of British culture from Queen Victoria to Princess Di.
Featuring a preface by Alan Fern, Director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., this volume presents an unprecedented gathering of great portraits. There are major figures from literature, ranging from Charles Dickens and Thomas Carlyle, to D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, to
Graham Greene and T.S. Eliot; scientists such as Michael Faraday and Charles Darwin; influential thinkers Bertrand Russell and John Ruskin; political figures including Winston Churchill and Harold Macmillan; artists such as James Whistler, Aubrey Beardsley, and David Hockney; and entertainment
figures from Lillie Langtry and John Gielgud to the Beatles and Sting. And the photographers themselves assemble their own Who's Who of masters, including Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll, Edward Steichen, Man Ray, Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, and Cornell Capa.
Not the least of this book's charm is the delightfully informative commentary Rogers provides for each sitter and photographer, capsule biographies filled with amusing asides (Florence Nightingale, for instance, thought her portrait looked like "Medea after killing her children"). But the
true appeal of the book, the attraction, is simply turning page after page and coming face to face with another figure of Britain's past, staring out at us in defiance of time, captured forever in the thinnest layer of chemicals.
- GenresArt
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 19, 1989
About the author
National Portrait Gallery London
112 books2 followersThe National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people.
When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world that was dedicated to portraits. The gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martin's Place, off Trafalgar Square, and adjoining the National Gallery.
The National Portrait Gallery in London is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. .
When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world that was dedicated to portraits. The gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martin's Place, off Trafalgar Square, and adjoining the National Gallery.
The National Portrait Gallery in London is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. .
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