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Roger Fenton’s killing fields by Stein, Richard L. is a Arts and Humanities article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Roger Fenton’s killing fields about?

Roger Fenton's first letter from his Crimean expedition (to his wife, Grace) is dated from Gibraltar, February 27, 1855. He reports on his familiar "troubles" ("it was the old story, sea sick as if I had never been on salt water before") and various attempts to get good views of the land. They weren't always successful, some almost missed as he lay in his bunk: "I managed to get on deck in the Afternoon in fact the Captain dragged me up as the sight was too fine to be lost ... ." By the end of the letter, he describes scenery in more detail: "a beautiful view of the rock capped with mist & beyond, the Bay covered with shipping [and] a magnificent view of the African coast ... ." At this point, the letter breaks off: "so much for the poetry of the situation, as far as the prose of it they cannot get my portmanteau & if his Excellency the Govenor (sic) should ask me to dine with him I should be obliged to ask his Excellency to lend me a clean shirt" (Fenton Letter #1). My focus in this essay is on a very different but (as we will see) not unrelated response by Fenton to the Crimean landscape: his most famous photograph, "The Valley of the Shadow of Death" (Figure 1). To concentrate o

Who reads Roger Fenton’s killing fields?

Author

Stein, Richard L.

Publisher

Taylor and Francis Group; Informa UK (Taylor & Francis); Taylor & Francis; Informa UK Limited (ISSN 0890-5495)

Published

2020

Language

EN

Field

Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)