England, William (1830-1896). – Jeffrey, Ian: An American Journey : The Photography of William England. Munich; London; New York, Prestel, 1999. 4° (30x25), 104 p., mainly illustrated in duotone, publisher’s hardbound with pictorial jacket, jacket sl rubbed, tight and clean, well cared,

Images of America, its dramatic landscapes and settler towns, are part of our collective subconscious.
Foremost among the creators of these images was the nineteenth-century photographer William England, whose stunning views of New York, Niagara Falls, and Canada were the first images of North America commercially available in Europe.

Born in London in 1830, William England spent most of his formative years as a daguerrotypist. As this technique fell out of fashion in the 1850s England abandoned portraiture and in 1854 he joined forces with the newly formed London Stereoscopic Company. As the LSC’s chief photographer, England traveled all over Europe producing unforgettable images of Swiss glaciers, Parisian boulevards, and Irish gardens. In 1859 he journeyed to the USA for the first time and captured the first American views to be published abroad commercially. Using a revolutionary shutter which improved the image’s depth of focus his atmospheric compositions show the early attempts to conquer the North American landscape – the stations and locomotives of the Great Western Railway, bridges over Niagara under construction, the extraordinary floating baths in New York harbor. The men and women in his scenes participate in this conquest, climbing waterfalls and boating on the lakes at Niagara, or watching Blondin’s famous crossing of the Falls on a tightrope, an image which became the LSC’s best-selling photograph of all time.

Taken from original glass negatives in the Hulton Getty’s unique collection of England’s work, this record of a remarkable era in American history is tribute to the technical brilliance of an underrated photographer, as well as to the men and women who created the realities of the new world. It will be of interest to students of the history of photography, and all those fascinated by the American landscape. (publisher)

• Kategorie: Fotografie: Bildleistungen Monografien
• Schlagwörter: Fotografie – Gebäude Ansichten · Fotografie – Reisefotografie Landschaftsfotografie · Fotografie; Geschichte der
• Sprache: Englisch (en)
• ISBN: 3-7913-2158-7
• Schutzumschlag
• Bestellnummer: 58033AB FOT100

EUR 20,--