Benjamin Brecknell Turner

Benjamin Brecknell Turner is perhaps best known for his beautiful early photographs of rural England. This volume examines his role as one of the first, and still one of the greatest, of all British amateur photographers. Between 1852 and 1854 he compiled an album of 60 photographs, entitled "Photographic Views from Nature". A collection of vintage pictures, now in the V&A, it forms the basis of this book and a companion exhibition at the V&A in 2001 and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Aside from their intriguing historical and topographical value, Turner's photographs are also creative expressions in their own right. A tranquil stillness pervades his images, which were often made on bright, early spring or winter days with branches and rooflines outlined crisply against the sky. Alongside country scenes, made in and around the counties of Worcestershire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Yorkshire. Turner also photographed the radical modern architecture of the Crystal Palace in London's Hyde Park. Above the premises of his London candle and saddle-soap business, he made portrait photographs, and in 1857 he travelled to Amsterdam to make what are now known as some of the earliest photographs of the city. Many of Turner's prints and negatives are reproduced here for the first time as full-page plates, using state-of-the-art technology to reproduce the subtle tones, surface and hues of the originals. In addition, illustrations of watercolours, drawings and family portraits place his work in context.