Human heads on animal bodies, people in fanciful landscapes, faces that are deftly morphed into common household objects—these are among the Victorian experiments in photocollage seen and explained in this marvelous book. With sharp wit and dramatic shifts of scale, these images flouted the serious conventions of photography in the 1860s and 1870s. Often made by womenfor albums, they reveal the educated minds and accomplished hands of their makers, taking on the new theory of evolution, addressing the changing role of photography, and challenging the strict conventions of aristocratic society. Although these photocollages may seem wonderfully odd to us now, the authors argue that they are actually perfectly in keeping with the Victorian sensibility that embraced juxtaposition and variety.
This delightful book, the first to examine comprehensively the little-known phenomenon of Victorian photocollage, presents imagery that has rarely—and, in many cases, never—been displayed or reproduced. Illuminating text provides a history of Victorian photocollage albums, identifies the common motifs found in them, and demonstrates the distinctly modern character of the medium, which paved the way for the future avant-garde potential of both photography and collage.
"These essays make the Victorian photocollage more legible, in ways that are nuanced and provocative."—Andrea Volpe, College Art Association Reviews
(Andrea Volpe College Art Association Reviews )
About the Author
Elizabeth Siegel is Associate Curator of Photography at the Art Institute of Chicago. Patrizia Di Bello is a lecturer in the history and theory of photography at Birkbeck College, University of London. Marta Weiss is the Curator of Photographs in the Word and Image Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Product Details
Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: Art Institute of Chicago; 1 edition (November 17, 2009)
This review is from: Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage (Art Institute of Chicago) (Hardcover)
I really enjoyed this exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. The creative things that the Victorians did with the cartes de visite that they collected are interesting, amusing, and sometimes surprising. The women (and men) that created these albums took blank pages and painted a backdrop or design to insert the photographs. They have unique themes, one of my favorites being a spider web. There are several juxtapositions that seem almost bizarre (peoples faces on duck bodies). This was the way these photographs were kept and arranged to show and to share with friends. Another of my favorite pages is one that contains a poem... basically stating that if you view this album you should know that your picture will be added to it. I find photocollage to be almost an ancestor to the modern scrapbooking trend, but so much better in that the backgrounds were all hand painted.
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This review is from: Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage (Art Institute of Chicago) (Hardcover)
This coffee table book presents the history of photocollage in Victorian times, when photographs had become inexpensive enough to use in whimsical art pieces that reflected the sensibilities of the times. An interesting survey of what was a primarily female pastime of creating and sharing albums, mixing images to create fantastic new landscapes. The essays are fascinating, and the reproductions are unusual and high quality. Sure to please those with interests in Victorian art, photography, collage, and even modern scrapbooking.
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This review is from: Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage (Art Institute of Chicago) (Hardcover)
Excellent for scrap-booking ideas. From an exhibit of the Met Museum in NYC in 2010. The essay content is academic, but accessible and terribly interesting. Photocollage, before Picasso famously glued a piece of paper to a painting, was a hobby enjoyed by upper class Victorian women (and men) in the 1800s. A woman's collection was used as a center piece for conversation...even used as a vehicle for flirting, or political voice... eg, the stern head of a Royal would be placed on a water color painting of a dandy entering the hostesses drawing room; members of a rich family cut out and place ironically in a bleak water color painting of city squalor. For teenagers/ college students, it's a great source for Victorian history...not stuff you'd find on the internet.
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