Roger Fenton

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  • Created by: naomi
  • Created on: 03-04-13 16:41

Roger Fenton

Advantages

  • Fenton gave people factual images of the war, as opposed to paintings, which helped to connect the people at home with what the soldiers were going through
  • He was well educated, as he graduated from University College London
  • He exhibited his work and travelled to Russia to take pictures, so he was an experienced photographer
  • The invention of photography and lithograph technology meant that newspaper reports could be illustrated cheaply and quickly

Disadvantages

  • Only the wealthy, who could afford to go to exhibitions, could see his photographs
  • Photos took a long time to get back to the UK, as they had to be transported, processed and put into galleries.
  • He was only there March - June 1855, giving a very narrow view of the war
  • Due to the technology available at the time, photos couldn't be taken of moving things, meaning he was limited to no battle shots, and people had to stand still for approximately 30 seconds while the photograph was being taken
  • Fenton was considered an 'establishment figure' - as he was connected with Prince Albert (the reason he was asked to go to the Crimea and photograph soldiers). This meant that he had to give a much more favourable view of the war, and because of this many photos were staged and inaccurate, a prime example being when he photographed men in winter coats, when in fact they were taken in April 1855 when it was 25 Degrees C.
  • He had to stay within the limits of the Victorian sensibilities, meaning he wasn't allowed to take photographs of the 'horrors of war' - including death, injuries, illness, or men looking scared or in pain.

Evaluation

Roger Fenton, although able to take pictures which showed exactly the situation, he was very restricted as to what he was able to take pictures of. Many had to be staged and he was forbidden to take any photographs of the horrors of war, promoting a fake image of what was really happening. However, the photo of the 'Valley of the Shadow of Death' was a very powerful image, without the need of including dead bodies or any people, simply the inclusion of the hundreds of fired cannonballs and the emptiness was enough to tell audiences what had happened. 

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