The Pre-Raphaelite Camera: Aspects of Victorian Photography (1998)

Hardback. First edition. Truth to nature, declared the Pre-Raphaelite painters, is the essence of art- to render the “distinct character” of every “flower, rock and cloud.” But by the 1850s the new medium of photography was gaining ground and threatening to outstrip the Pre-Raphaelites in their artistic ideal. Each side viewed the other with intense suspicion. The Pre-Raphaelites proclaimed that “there is much in photography that is false,” while the photographers hoped that “the Pre-Raphaelites will in despair give up their mere imitation and aim at higher principles of art.” Yet such heated exchanges could not mask the many fascinating connections and interdependence between these rival arts. Condition: Very good in slightly marked dust-jacket.