CHAPTER SIX A New Medium of Communication
PHOTOGRAPHY: ART OR INDUSTRY?
The introduction of the wet plate process and the relaxation of Talbot’s patent restrictions led to an explosive increase in the number of people making their living from photography.1 During the 1850s, some of England’s most notable photographers, including Roger Fenton, Robert Howlett, and Henry Peach Robinson, abandoned their amateur status and turned professional. Photography had become a business with a widening division of purpose between amateurs and professionals. The professionals were motivated by market forces to produce salable products. The amateurs pursued their personal inclinations and claimed the moral high ground of art, beauty, and truth, relegating ...
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