The Financial Times have been running a special series on photography which appeared in the FT and FT Weekend. The last instalment was on an image - The Queen's Target' - by a pioneering Victorian photographer which is both a royal souvenir and a strikingly early piece of abstract art.
As the founder and first secretary of the Photographic Society, established in 1853, Fenton held a pivotal national position. He was instrumental in gaining the interest in photography of Queen Victoria and her technically minded Prince Consort. No doubt his long connection with the Queen was behind the making of this picture. Yet by 1860, when “The Queen’s Target” was taken, Fenton’s career was on the wane. The pioneering campaigner on behalf of photography had been left behind by the popularity of the medium he had done so much to promote.
You can read the rest of the article and others in the series by FT photo critic, Francis Hodgson, here.
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