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The Scenic Daguerreotype: Romanticism and Early Photography
Too often, photographic historians have given credit to the calotype for establishing our sense and standard of the photographic, when in reality it was the daguerreotype that first taught us how to see photographically, taking us beyond portraiture to a standard for scenic images that is still with us today.
Here is the first study of scenic daguerreotypes from around the world and the largest assemblage of them ever to be presented in book form. Contending that L. J. M. Daguerre was at the forefront of the romantic revolution, Wood discusses Daguerre's work in the context of John Constable, J. M. W. Turner, and Caspar David Friedrich. He also draws parallels between early landscape photography, the poetry of William Wordsworth, and William Gilpin's notions of the picturesque, which influenced both travel and the way nineteenth-century men and women began to view the landscape around them.
Wood's selection of more than a hundred images presents the best surviving examples of the scenic daguerreotype. They include views of the Acropolis, Egypt, and China, of mountains and Alpine scenery, of Pompeii, Venice, and the temples of Rome, of the California Gold Rush and other American scenes, plus daguerreotypes from Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Martinique, and Brazil.
Here is the first study of scenic daguerreotypes from around the world and the largest assemblage of them ever to be presented in book form. Contending that L. J. M. Daguerre was at the forefront of the romantic revolution, Wood discusses Daguerre's work in the context of John Constable, J. M. W. Turner, and Caspar David Friedrich. He also draws parallels between early landscape photography, the poetry of William Wordsworth, and William Gilpin's notions of the picturesque, which influenced both travel and the way nineteenth-century men and women began to view the landscape around them.
Wood's selection of more than a hundred images presents the best surviving examples of the scenic daguerreotype. They include views of the Acropolis, Egypt, and China, of mountains and Alpine scenery, of Pompeii, Venice, and the temples of Rome, of the California Gold Rush and other American scenes, plus daguerreotypes from Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Martinique, and Brazil.
238 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1995
11 people want to read
About the author
John Wood
21 books3 followersJohn Wood holds professorships in both photographic history and English literature at McNeese State University in Louisiana, where he is also director of the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing. He is the author of four books of poetry and seven books of art and photographic criticism.
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July 8, 2013
My (2012) review from Amazon: I don't really collect daguerrotypes; they're expensive, and good ones are very hard to find. But I am very interested in photographic history -- both the history of photography and history seen through photographs -- so this book was an outstanding addition to my library. It presents about 100 scenic dags, from various countries, well reproduced at good size, and accompanied by several chapters of interesting text that contextualizes early photography in the rise of artistic romanticism and the development of journalistic vision.
The University of Iowa Press consistently turns out excellent books that are very well produced, and this is no exception. Highly recommended for collectors of photographic history.
The University of Iowa Press consistently turns out excellent books that are very well produced, and this is no exception. Highly recommended for collectors of photographic history.
Displaying 1 of 1 review