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mechanical reproduction. The pictures the
Robinson school produced may have been "mechanical", but Emerson's may still be considered artistic, since they were not faithful reproductions of a scene but rather having depth as a result of his one-plane-sharp theory. When he lost the argument over the artistic nature of photography, Emerson did not publicize his photographic work but still continued to take photographs.
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44:(13 May 1856 – 12 May 1936) was a British writer and photographer. His photographs are early examples of promoting straight photography as an art form. He is known for taking photographs that displayed rural settings and for his disputes with the photographic establishment about the purpose and meaning of photography.
214:, in which he explained his philosophy of art and straightforward photography. The book was described by one writer as "the bombshell dropped at the tea party" because of the case it made that truthful and realistic photographs would replace contrived photography. This was a direct attack on the popular tradition of
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in 1895, generally considered to be his best work, Emerson published no further photographs, though he continued writing and publishing books, both works of fiction and on such varied subjects as genealogy and billiards. In 1924, he started writing a history of artistic photography and completed the
252:
Emerson also believed that the photograph should be a true representation of that which the eye saw. Following contemporary optical theories, he produced photographs with one area of sharp focus while the remainder was unsharp. He vehemently pursued this argument about the nature of seeing and its
226:
in the 1850s. Some of
Robinson's photographs were of twenty or more separate photographs combined to produce one image. This allowed the production of images that, especially in early days, could not have been produced indoors in low light, and it also made possible the creation of highly dramatic
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As I stood admiring just before sunrise, the reed-tops bending under their beautiful crystal heads, rooks came flying from a wood near by, and a vast flock of peewits darkened the sky. As the yellow sun arose in frosty splendour mists began to rise on the river, and there followed a brief spell of
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He then experimented with soft focus, but was not content with the results that this gave too, experiencing difficulty with accurately recreating the depth and atmosphere which he saw as necessary to capture nature with precision. Despite his misgivings, he took many photographs of landscapes and
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Another of
Emerson's passionate beliefs was that photography was an art and not a mechanical reproduction. An argument with the establishment ensued on this point as well, but Emerson found that his defence of photography as art failed, and he had to allow that photography was probably a form of
146:, and it consisted of 40 platinum prints that were informed by these ideas. Before long, however, he became dissatisfied with rendering everything in sharp focus, considering that the undiscriminating emphasis it gave to all objects was unlike the way the human eye saw the world.
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He bought his first camera in 1881 or 1882 to be used as a tool on bird-watching trips with his friend, the ornithologist A. T. Evans. In 1885 he was involved in the formation of the Camera Club of London, and the following year he was elected to the
Council of the
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Emerson was intelligent, well-educated and wealthy with a facility for clearly articulating his many strongly held opinions. In 1881 he married Miss Edith Amy
Ainsworth and wrote his first book while on his honeymoon. The couple eventually had five children.
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Initially influenced by naturalistic French painting, he argued for similarly "naturalistic" photography and took photographs in sharp focus to record country life as clearly as possible. His first album of photographs, published in 1886, was entitled
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images, often in imitation of allegorical paintings. Emerson denounced this technique as false and claimed that photography should be seen as a genre of its own, not one that seeks to imitate other art forms.
234:, which was another form of manipulation that he strongly disagreed with, calling it "the process by which a good, bad, or indifferent photograph is converted into a bad drawing or painting".
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and abandoned his career as a surgeon to become a photographer and writer. As well as his particular attraction to nature he was also interested in billiards, rowing and meteorology.
383:
Stephen Hyde, great grandson of PH Emerson who visited the site of La Palma Estate in May 2011. See also documents relating to
Ingenio La Palma at the Bodleian Library in Oxford
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During his life
Emerson fought against the British photographic establishment on a number of issues. In 1889 he published a controversial and influential book
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belonging to his
American father, Henry Ezekiel Emerson and British mother, Jane, née Harris Billing. He was a distant relative of
647:
Ewing, Samuel. 2015. "The
Courbet of England: Peter Henry Emerson’s East Anglian Photographs and the Imperial Ordering of Labour."
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fenlands and published seven further books of his photography through the next ten years. In the last two of these volumes,
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The
Compleat Angler, or, The Contemplative Man's Recreation. Being a Discourse of Rivers, Fish-Ponds, Fish, and Fishing
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Pictorial effect naturalistic vision: the photographs and theories of Henry Peach Robinson and Peter Henry Emerson
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69:. He spent his early years in Cuba on his father's estate. During the American Civil War he spent some time at
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magic beauty ere the thickening mists began to bury everything as they blew in fitful gusts from the river.
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637:. Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2008.
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Peter Turner, 'Emerson, Peter Henry (1856–1936)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,
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The English Emersons, a genealogical historical sketch to the end of the 17th century
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representation in photography, to the discomfort of the photographic establishment.
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73:, but moved to England in 1869, after the death of his father. He was schooled at
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Life and landscape: P.H. Emerson: art & photography in East Anglia, 1885–1900
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http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/1500-1900/emerson/emerson.html
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202:"At Plough, The End of the Furrow", from Emerson's photographic album
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All Emerson's own pictures were taken in a single shot and without
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where he was a noted scholar and athlete. He subsequently attended
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The old order and the new: P.H. Emerson and photography, 1885–1895
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depicting a hunter and his dog sourced from Nancy Newhall's book
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Caóba, the Guerilla Chief. A Real Romance of the Cuban Rebellion
577:
McWilliam, Neil, Veronica Sekules, and Michael Brandon-Jones.
483:, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004. Retrieved 31 August 2010
609:, ch. XI. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1997.
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Emerson was born on La Palma Estate, a sugar plantation near
33:"Ricking the reed", from Emerson's first photographic album
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Peter Henry Emerson and American naturalistic photography
607:
The Engine of Visualization: Thinking through Photography
166:, after having bad experiences with commercial printers.
407:. International Photography Hall of Fame. Archived from
162:(1895), Emerson printed the photographs himself using
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P.H. Emerson: the fight for photography as a fine art
553:. Boston: D. R. Godine; London: Gordon Fraser, 1974.
497:"V&A Exploring Photography – Peter Henry Emerson"
525:"A History of Photography: EMERSON, Dr. Peter Henry"
364:
Suggested Amended Billiard Rules for Amateur Players
581:. Norwich: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, 1986.
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Paul Ray at the Hospital: a Picture of Student Life
340:Birds, Beasts and Fishes of the Norfolk Broadland
194:Disagreements with the photographic establishment
591:Handy, Ellen, Brian Lukacher, and Shelley Rice.
322:Naturalistic Photography for Students of the Art
218:to produce one image that had been pioneered by
212:Naturalistic Photography for Students of the Art
459:. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 26–27.
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687:Peter Henry Emerson Still Photograph Archive
673:Peter Henry Emerson. (British, 1856–1936).
288:Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads
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144:Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads
35:Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads
725:Science & Society Picture Library.
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742:The Life and Work of Dr. P. H. Emerson
623:. Munich and New York: Prestel, 2006.
595:. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum, 1994.
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188:International Photography Hall of Fame
702:Works by or about Peter Henry Emerson
551:P.H. Emerson: photographer of Norfolk
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306:with photogravures by Emerson (1888)
179:manuscript just before his death in
773:People educated at Cranleigh School
294:Pictures from Life in Field and Fen
274:Pictures From Life in Field And Fen
204:Pictures From Life in Field And Fen
798:People from Pinar del Río Province
783:Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
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549:Turner, Peter, and Richard Wood.
431:"Emerson, Peter Henry (EMR879PH)"
405:"Peter Henry Emerson (1856–1936)"
186:In 1979 he was inducted into the
106:Blackshore, River Blythe, Suffolk
729:containing many images from the
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679:. Oxford University Press, 2009.
108:from Emerson's illustrated book
778:Alumni of King's College London
16:British writer and photographer
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316:Pictures of East Anglian Life
110:Pictures of East Anglian Life
711:Works by Peter Henry Emerson
693:Works by Peter Henry Emerson
567:. New York: Aperture, 1975.
310:Idylls of the Norfolk Broads
85:in 1879 where he earned his
793:People from Sagua la Grande
717:(public domain audiobooks)
435:A Cambridge Alumni Database
284:(1882, privately published)
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735:Royal Photographic Society
675:From Grove Art Online via
437:. University of Cambridge.
328:Wild Life on a Tidal Water
216:combining many photographs
788:Photographers from London
174:After the publication of
457:How to Read a Photograph
83:Clare College, Cambridge
748:Encyclopædia Britannica
633:Peterson, Christian A.
661:, no. 27, Spring 2017.
649:History Of Photography
563:Newhall, Nancy Wynne.
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81:, before switching to
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731:National Media Museum
656:"Emerson's Evolution"
455:Jeffrey, Ian (2008).
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241:From Emerson's album
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79:King's College London
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683:George Eastman House
677:Museum of Modern Art
272:from Emerson's book
224:Henry Peach Robinson
119:Photographic Society
71:Wilmington, Delaware
727:Peter Henry Emerson
605:Maynard, Patrick.
67:Ralph Waldo Emerson
42:Peter Henry Emerson
25:Peter Henry Emerson
334:On English Lagoons
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181:Falmouth, Cornwall
156:On English Lagoons
150:rural life in the
134:On English Lagoons
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803:Irish folklorists
697:Project Gutenberg
689:with many images.
651:39, no. 1: 18-32.
643:978-0-912964-98-0
527:. www.rleggat.com
523:Leggatt, Robert.
466:978-0-500-28784-2
59:Encrucijada, Cuba
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706:Internet Archive
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176:Marsh Leaves
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170:20th century
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768:1936 deaths
763:1856 births
659:Tate Papers
270:Confessions
243:The Hunters
158:(1893) and
97:Photography
757:Categories
371:References
232:retouching
53:Early life
531:31 August
503:31 August
415:31 August
89:in 1885.
48:Biography
733:and the
715:LibriVox
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639:ISBN
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555:ISBN
533:2010
505:2010
461:ISBN
417:2010
222:and
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