Collecting 101

1.

The Birth of Photography

While the camera obscura – which allowed an image to be projected onto a flat surface – was invented over a thousand years ago it was only in the 1830s that it became possible to capture and preserve that image onto paper or a plate thanks to the ingenuity of Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot and Frenchman Louis Daguerre. Talbot is known for producing translucent negatives and printing them out onto paper (a principle that is largely unchanged in contemporary analogue photography), while Daguerre made one-off positive images, where what came out of the camera was the final product. Talbot fought to patent his process and profit from it, while Daguerre’s method effectively became open-source which led to the ‘Daguerreotype’ technique spreading like wildfire across the globe – within a decade 3 million daguerreotypes were being produced in the United States alone per year. Due to the accessibility of the method, Daguerreotypes were relatively affordable from the outset and thousands of enterprising individuals followed instructions published in various magazines and books on how to construct a camera and decided to set up their own studios. Because of Talbot’s patent, widespread photographic portraits on paper came later, in the 1850s. In the same way that computers changed the course of the 20th century, photography revolutionised the Victorian period. For the first time, people could see themselves precisely as others saw them; they could view other parts of the world as if they were there; they could study the shapes, characteristics and movements of people, animals, and objects from multiple angles, in a way that was not previously possible in art. They even questioned whether art was dead – photography was primarily seen as a science, but this was disputed and at the Great Exhibition in 1851, British photographs were exhibited amongst ‘Machinery’ but also ‘Fine Arts’.

2.

Victorian Attitudes

With inventions such as the rotary printing press and the move from copper plate to steel plate in the process of reproducing images, the cost of publishing fell dramatically, which in turn improved literacy and schooling as well as making culture more accessible to all classes. The 19th century was also the height of the British colonial period and there was widespread fascination for the cultures and products of Africa, India, Australia, America and elsewhere, however the social mores and expectations of the time meant that ‘foreigners’ were largely looked upon with curiosity, and frequently from a position of superiority. This attitude of superiority is evident from the pose and expressions of the sitters in portraits from this time, who seldom let their guard down, giving off an air of responsibility and propriety which is typically associated with Victorian figures. And while culture was becoming more accessible, collecting books, art, antiques and eventually photography was still a niche pursuit, requiring disposable income and time.

3.

Public vs. Private

Because exposure times were very long, the first photographs were usually taken outdoors, and of things that did not move such as architecture, machinery and landscape. As the technology improved, it became possible to photograph people, and eventually fidgety children and animals, as well as events. This led to a rise in photographs in the press where engravings based upon the original images would be reproduced in publications such as the Illustrated London News. It was here that Roger Fenton’s photographs of the Crimean War – now considered the first photographs of warfare – were published in 1855, leading to a change in public opinion of the conflict. As well as increasing public knowledge of current affairs, photography also played an important part in the birth of ‘celebrity culture’. Particularly in the 1860s, ‘carte de visite’ photographs – about the size of a business card – proliferated the image of figures such as Queen Victoria and Abraham Lincoln, making them instantly recognisable. Photography only took off more widely as a hobby in the home with the introduction of ‘dry plate’ negatives in the 1870s. Before then, photographers could never be far from a darkroom as they had to coat the glass plate with a light-sensitive liquid, expose it and develop it all within the span of about fifteen minutes. Just as the Internet was swiftly adopted for pornography, the same is true of photography. Even the early daguerreotype process was used for erotica, thinly veiled as academic artistic studies of life models. Despite the Victorian image of propriety, moral standing, and righteousness, demand for pornography was high. Erotic photographs were sold by travelling salesmen and women in the streets who hid them under their dresses – they have always been an ‘under the counter’ commodity.

4.

Care & Conservation

Before buying a Victorian photograph it is worth thinking about how you are going to store or display it. Conservation-quality framing, which uses UV-protective glass and acid-free mounting board, is not cheap but it is worth the investment. If you are not planning to display your photographs they should be kept in a box in acid-free polyester sleeves, so that you can flip through them easily. The biggest risk to photographs is fading – the earlier the photograph, the more sensitive it will be to light. A collector should always aim for the strongest, deepest, richest print of the image. In terms of daguerreotypes, they fade too, and the surface is extremely fragile – it scratches incredibly easily – while photographs on paper are just as fragile as all works on paper: in addition to fading, they can crease, tear, be stained by liquid, and harbour fungus. If a photograph does become damaged, there are a number of highly skilled photo restorers who can stabilise an antique photograph and prevent further damage. They may also be able to reduce the appearance of existing damage, which will be outlined in the condition report.

5.

On the Market

While some Victorian photographs, such as anonymous portraits or European landscapes and city scenes can be purchased for very little, more valuable photographs can start from around £600. These will often be earlier or larger-format photographs of more exotic parts of the world like India or China, and by ‘brand name’ fine art photographers such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Fox Talbot, Gustave le Gray, Roger Fenton, Felice Beato and Mathew Brady. Having said that, if a work speaks to you, you shouldn’t be put off by a piece that is anonymous. The rarest photographs on the market are daguerreotypes (which by their nature are one-offs) of unusual subjects, i.e. anything other than a portrait, such as topographical or architectural views, or portraits of non-Westerners. As with any area of collecting, good provenance will add something to the value of a photograph, but it can also be an indicator that a photograph has been well kept in good conditions. In other fields provenance can be another way of confirming authenticity, but since there are virtually no forgeries of early photographs – they are mostly too technically complicated to be worth forging – this need not be a concern. Early photographs began to appear at auction in the 1970s, and the market grew quickly, helped in part by landmark sales such as that of the collection of Sam Wagstaff, Robert Mapplethorpe’s mentor, to the Getty for a reported $5million. Today the market for this fascinating category shows no signs of slowing down and records continue to be broken. The rarest photographs in the best condition will always be a blue-chip investment – but you have to compete against some of the biggest collectors and museums in the world.

At a lower level, the benefit of photographs is that they do not ‘speak a language’: it is a very immediate art form, not necessarily dependent on cultural background or context -a photo is a photo and on that basis, if you invest in photographs your collection may not be subject to the vagaries of passing trends or diverging economic cycles. If you want to find out more about this subject visit museums with strong photography collections such as the Met, the V&A, and the Getty, as well as fairs like AIPAD, Paris Photo and Photo London. Once you have a good foundation of knowledge start exploring what is on offer at auction. You can always speak to a specialist if you have any questions on where to start.