Benjamin Bracknell Turner - Victorian Photographer

Just finished reading Benjamin Bracknell Turner  -  Rural England through a Victorian Lens [Martin Barnes V & A  Publications 2001].

Turner was an early pioneer of photography and the photographs we see in the book are from the 1850's (most  from 1852 -54) just over 10 years after Fox Talbot first patented his calotype process in England. There are 46 plates (some are negatives) in the book and the level of detail and the quality of composition is outstanding. Given that this was the early days of photography and that his camera was a massive 75 cms square and,with all the rest of the equipment, required a large cart to move it around one can only marvel at the patience and skill of Turner.

It is interesting that for the most part he stayed with the calotype process despite there being other and quicker alternatives that had been developed on the Continent of Europe.

The photographic paper both for the negative and the positive were hand produced, by the photographer, a sheet at a time. The photographer needed good sunlight but even then exposure time was about 30 minutes so only a small number of photographs have any people in them although there are shots of Turner and one of his family. One effect of these long exposure times was to give water the milky almost gossamer effect that seems to be so sought after by modern day photographers. At the time the effect was almost universally disparaged being seen as unrepresentative of how people see water. There is an estimate in the book that creating a negative required about 45 minutes even for a person of Turner's expertise. Having got a satisfactory negative the photographer needed good sunlight to create a positive image.

What can the modern photographer learn from examining Turner's work. A great deal. It is clear that he gave a great deal of thought to composition and the elements within the photograph to catch and direct the viewers attention. There are four negatives shown in the book (pp 57, 58) all of the windmill at Kempsey in Worcestershire. Close examination reveals that Turner has taken elements out of  the picture and then replaced them. There is a figure in the doorway of the mill in one image that is not repeated in the others. It is also evident that he has shifted the position of the camera slightly to change the relationship of elements in the photograph. It is probable that in other images Turner has added to the scene articles that help stress the rural nature of the image and so placed as to balance the composition. Easy today with all the technology at our disposal but a major undertaking for Turner.

Turner's work indicates that he had a very specific view about rural life and he seems to have gone to great lengths to avoid including anything that jarred with this view. Although a railway line ran very close to his property at Bredicot Court it is not included in his photographs. Given that this the railway was still very much of a novelty at this time it is surprising that it did not figure highly in his portfolio. Other images of ruins such as Whitby Abbey give support to the view that he had a nostalgic longing for a past that probably never existed. This may be true but two of the most outstanding images in the book are of the Crystal Palace shortly before it was demolished after the Great Exhibition of 1851. His photograph of the 'Nave' is one that stand comparison with any taken by our modern digital cameras.

Turner was faced with the same ethical questions that are posed to today's photographer. In his decisions about what he would include and exclude in his photographs he created images that supported his views which is what we do today. Although he did not have the use of a computer or programmes such as Photoshop he was able to, and did, manipulate the negative to ensure a good print. He cropped the image in part to get rid of edge areas where the negative was not satisfactory but also to subtly change the composition of the image. He was as much a man of his own time as he is of ours.

The important lesson learnt is that the most important part of the photographic process is the photographer himself. Whilst an understanding of the technical side available at any point in time is essential only by developing an 'eye' for what is there to photograph will we be able to approach the standards set by this early pioneer.