The exhibition, “The Pre Raphaelite Lens; British Photograph and Paint, 1848-1875”, surrounds the shared language that formed between early British photographers and the current painters of that era, reflecting the intrinsic relationship between the two groups. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of painters who wanted to return to the purity and clarity of the paintings of the Medieval and Renaissance period preceding Raphael, became spurred on by the detail that the new medium of photograph could capture in a moment. In turn early photographers struggling to establish their new media as fine art some looked to the visual strategies and subject matter of the Pre-Raphaelite painting as the answer. The two groups began to venture on with the questioning of representation and observation in art constantly taking and giving to one another both literally and figuratively. This interplay between the two media is physically shown both in the grouping of work by shared theme such as natural world or literature, and the actual placement of the work in that paintings and photographs are intermingled together indiscriminantly.
The concept behind the exhibition was most directly shown in the grouping of three pieces of work under the literary section. All three depict a scene from Tennyson’s poem “Marianna” based off Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure”, in which Marianna is anxiously waiting the return of her betrothed while he is out making trouble. The two photographs are works by Julia Margaret Cameron and Henry Peach Robinson while the painting is produced by John Everett Millais all of which are titled “Mariana”. All of the artist employ the use of the figure’s posture and expression to convey the tension and anxiety of the figure, Cameron and Robison having the model slump to one side supporting their head or pillowing it while Millais figure is standing up and twisting to stretch as if she had previously been nervously perched over her embroidery. Their faces are tight with tension or lost in thought, Millais and Robinson the former while Cameron’s model stares vacantly out of frame and Robinson looks as she is looking at someone off to the side and about to say something . Cameron’s work depends solely on this use of position and expression to tell the story, as it is a medium shot with no backdrop as with much of her other work because of the severely small depth of field, and one prop that looks ambiguous. The long haired girl lays her head on her arm fallen to one side she looks off camera at nothing, but her face shows worry and her body weariness with her tangled hair and deep set eyes so one may look upon it as a universal portrait of all women wearily waiting for their lover to return from where they are not supposed to be. Much like Cameron, Robinson background means nothing although it is visible the drapery gives away the location as in studio nothing more, as well as that for this instance he only used one negative for this composition unlike many of pieces of his work. Although he relies on body language Robinson also uses props in order to solidify this expression of anxiety using a crucifix as Marianna’s objects of comfort that is clutched in her hands. Unlike Cameron and Millais whom use their costuming of the figure to recreate an Mideval scene by placing their models in period dresses, Robinson does not concentrate on the recreation of the Shakespearian feel. Instead his model seems to be wearing civil war era clothing; so modern for the time it was taken. Instead of a literary Marianna Robinson seems to be creating a looser interpretation of Marianna possibly to parallel the story with current time or universalize the scene so that everyone can access the emotion. Millais painting is obviously distinct from the two flanking photographs in that is in a full range of color, and of course is oil on panel. It is a full framed composition with Marianna standing in front of a table placed before a stained glass window of the holy family with an altar shadowed in he background, unlike both photographs the details remain firm through the block on the back wall even if at times it breaks up into multiple brush strokes. The amount of costuming and props far surpasses both photos with her green embroidered dress with her hair in a bun, and her table bursting forth with materials, the stained glass glowing and the marriage altar in the back surrounded by dark shadows, it becomes full in a the photographs are not. Through studying both the obvious and subtle similarities in these three work in particular, but the exhibition as whole it become perfectly clear the mutual relationship that was formed through mutual competition and integration of these two groups
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