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The Crimean War, 1855
After a long-simmering dispute over control of the Holy Lands, the Crimean War erupted in late 1853 when Russia moved into Turkish principalities on the Danube (present-day Romania). In retaliation, the English and French allied themselves with the Turks to capture the Russian naval base at Sebastopol on the Black Sea. The war drew great national attention, especially after the London Times published eyewitness reports detailing the abject suffering of the troops. Fenton sailed to the Crimea in February 1855, taking with him more than thirty crates of materials, as well as a wine merchant’s van that he outfitted as a portable darkroom in order to develop his negatives. The more than 350 photographs he made there are among the first war photographs ever created. Armed with letters of introduction from Prince Albert, Fenton was granted exceptional access to the commanders of the English, French, and Turkish armies. In addition to portraits of military leaders, he recorded the local figures, such as the Group of Croat Chiefs, and made studies of camp life. Fenton’s photographs never violated Victorian taste by recording the horrors of battle—the dead bodies or the misery of the trenches. Instead, he sought to create a commercially viable portfolio of photographs that supported the belief that British soldiers had died with dignity in a noble cause. |
