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Roger Fenton

Still Life, 1860-1862

Description

Maker

Title

Still Life

Year

1860-1862

Medium

Albumen print from glass negative

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Dimensions

Sheet: 43.8 x 80.6 cm (17 1/4 x 31 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Printed under image:Photographed by R. Fenton

Type

Credit

Jesse Metcalf Fund

Object Number

80.097

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Early Exposures

March 13 - July 19, 2015

In this still-life, Roger Fenton emphasized tactile diversity, such as the shiny beads of the necklace, the smoothness of the embroidered Asian silk, the soft variety of the bouquet, and the hard carved marble of the funereal jewelry box. Sensorial and mysterious, he imbued it with a vanitas theme, aligned with his desire to claim photography as equal to or even surpassing painting.

The appointed photographer at the British Museum from 1854 to 1859, Fenton developed great skill photographing stationary objects of various sizes and materials. This image is part of a series of personal works he began in 1860 of objects arranged on marble or fabric.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Still Life with the accession number of 80.097. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.