Cuando Roger Fenton llega a Sebastopol, en marzo de 1855, las condiciones climáticas son favorables al uso de placas al colodión húmedo. Indicó: “Durante este periodo hasta el comienzo de la primavera, la luz y la temperatura eran todo lo que más podía desear un fotógrafo”. Como la temporada iba cambiando, la luz se volvía más intensa, la temperatura más caliente, las moscas molestaban al fotógrafo que aprovechó entonces las únicas horas propicias de trabajo, muy de madrugada, para hacer posar a los jefes militares: “Es imposible trabajar después de las nueve o las diez, debido al intenso calor, que provoca que salten los tapones de mis botellas, y estropea todas las imágenes”.
Fenton se empeña en particular en mostrar la diversidad étnica del campo aliado: croatas, egipcios, macedonios, zuavos y tiradores argelinos. Él mismo se hace fotografiar por su asistente, Marcus Sparling, vestido con indumentaria de zuavo, cuerpo de infantería creado en 1831 en Argelia y que se ilustró en particular durante la guerra de Crimea.Fenton regresa a Londres con trescientos sesenta clichés, a finales del mes de junio de 1855, sin ver la caída de Sebastopol que se produjo el 8 de septiembre de 1855.
Otro fotógrafo británico, James Robertson, entra entonces en lo que queda de la ciudad, tras trescientos cuarenta días de sitio; a mitades de noviembre, fueron los franceses Jean-Charles Langlois y Léon Eugène Méhédin los que llegaron allí.
Marcus Sparling (1822-1860)
Marcus Sparling (1822-1860)
Zuavo de 2ª División, Retrato de Roger Fenton
1855
Revelado en papel salado a partir de un vidrio al colodión.
Alt. 18,3; Alt. 15,4 cm.
© photo RMN, Patrice Schmidt
Museo d'Orsay, Paris, Francia.
When Roger Fenton arrived in Sebastopol in March 1855, the climatic conditions were favourable for the use of wet plates. “From then to the beginning of spring, the light and temperature were the best a photographer could ask for” he reported. As the season advanced, the light became stronger, the temperature hotter and the flies bothered the photographer who then started to take photographs of the military leaders in the early morning, as this was the only suitable time to work. “It is impossible to work after nine or ten o’clock because of the intense heat, which makes the corks on my bottles pop, and ruins all the pictures.”
Museo d'Orsay, Paris, Francia.
When Roger Fenton arrived in Sebastopol in March 1855, the climatic conditions were favourable for the use of wet plates. “From then to the beginning of spring, the light and temperature were the best a photographer could ask for” he reported. As the season advanced, the light became stronger, the temperature hotter and the flies bothered the photographer who then started to take photographs of the military leaders in the early morning, as this was the only suitable time to work. “It is impossible to work after nine or ten o’clock because of the intense heat, which makes the corks on my bottles pop, and ruins all the pictures.”
Fenton was particularly keen to show the ethnic diversity in the allied camp: Croats, Egyptians, Macedonians, Zouaves and Algerian infantrymen – he had himself photographed by his assistant Marcus Sparling, in a Zouave uniform, an infantry brigade created in 1831 in Algeria which distinguished itself during the Crimean War.Fenton returned to London at the end of June 1855 with three hundred and sixty photographs, without having seen the fall of Sebastopol on the 8 September 1855.
Another British photographer, James Robertson, then went into what was left of the town after three hundred and forty days of siege, and in mid-November the Frenchmen Jean-Charles Langlois and Léon Eugène Méhedin arrived.
Marcus Sparling (1822-1860)
Marcus Sparling (1822-1860)
Zouave 2nd Division, Portrait of Roger Fenton
1855
Salted paper print from a collodion glass negative
H. 18.3; W. 15.4 cm
© photo RMN, Patrice Schmidt
d'Orsay Museum , Paris, France.
d'Orsay Museum , Paris, France.
12.350
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