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The 1860s saw the opening up of photography to the
masses, an art form invented in the last years of the 1830s as the preserve
of a few scientists and experts, and this expansion of the medium allowed
the layman's involvement in the medium as never before.
These views of Cambridge focus primarily
on the University's great mediaeval colleges untouched by the additions,
renovations and accretions of the twentieth century, but also document
the uncluttered nature of the city itself in the third quarter of the
nineteenth century. Sprouting gargoyles vie for attention with gothic
pinnacles, graceful bridges reflect themselves in the River Cam, and
top-hatted gentlemen stroll through the snowy lanes of winter while
labourers, messengers and apprentices confront the camera's gaze.
Albumen prints were the common currency
for photography for over thirty years during the middle part of the
nineteenth century. Egg albumen was used to coat the paper and this
with the use of glass plate negatives results in the extraordinary range
of tone and fine detail of the images. Albumen, more commonly known
as egg white was mixed with sodium chloride and coated onto the paper.
The Albumen paper was then coated with silver nitrate, immediately before
printing to give the finished print a glossy surface, which appealed
more to nineteenth century taste than the matt surfaces of other processes.
all c. 1880, albumen prints,
within mounts, average size 19 x 27 cm., some titled and dated below
the image, each £35-£50, please enquire.
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