Rediscovering Lakeland: The Early Photographers
10th January 2003- 27th April 2003
When the railways reached the Lake
District in the 1840s, a new era of tourism began. Day-trippers and holidaymakers replaced the artists and writers who had
come to admire the natural beauty of the scenery at the turn of the Eighteenth
Century. It was suddenly cheaper
and easier to reach the lakes and fells. The
introduction of bank holidays, half-day Saturdays, cheap rail fares and
convenient stations at Windermere (1847) and Keswick (1864) suddenly made
travelling to the Lake District an easy journey rather that an adventure.
At the same time a new process was being perfected which suited the Victorian Age perfectly. Photography was an objective and instantaneous medium; it could be nostalgic, dramatic, factual, evocative, but ultimately, it portrayed real life. It was a move away from the Romantic perceptions and imagination of the previous fifty years. Photography was also a social medium, and it would capture throughout the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries every aspect of the Lake District for the history books. The many different faces of the Lake District were being discovered and photography made it seems a less remote and uncertain place.
The first known Lake District photographs date from the early 1850s and by 1858, two professional photographers were listed in the trade directories. By the 1870s, almost thirty were listed and it had become a highly competitive industry. Initially, the studios were the main focus but photographers were soon going outdoors trying to capture increasingly dramatic landscapes to sell to the tourist.
This exhibition highlights the work of well-known Lake District photographers in the studio, in the landscape and towns, and on the crags. Particularly, the work of Ambleside-based Herbert Bell, William Brunskill of Windermere and the Abrahams brothers of Keswick. Works on display include the unique portraits by Brunskill, dramatic landscapes and social photography of Bell as well as equipment used by the Abrahams brothers including their original camera.
Development of Photography The Studio Photographer The Outdoor Pioneers