A Photographer Develops: Reading Robinson, Rejlander, and Cameron
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Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 9-5-2014 12:00 AM A Photographer Develops: Reading Robinson, Rejlander, and Cameron Jonathan R. Fardy The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Sharon Sliwinski The University of Western Ontario Joint Supervisor Helen Fielding The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Theory and Criticism A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Jonathan R. Fardy 2014 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Theory and Criticism Commons Recommended Citation Fardy, Jonathan R., "A Photographer Develops: Reading Robinson, Rejlander, and Cameron" (2014). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 2486. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/2486 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A PHOTOGRAPHER DEVELOPS: READING ROBINSON, REJLANDER, AND CAMERON (Thesis format: Monograph) by Jonathan R. Fardy Graduate Program in Theory and Criticism A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Jonathan R. Fardy 2014 i Abstract This study examines the historical emergence of the photographer by turning to the writings of three important photographers of the nineteenth century: Henry Peach Robinson (1830-1901), Oscar Gustave Rejlander (1813-1875), and Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879). The photographic works of each of these photographers has been the subject of much historical and interpretive analysis, but their writings have yet to receive significant scholarly attention. It is the claim of this study that this archive opens a new set of questions: What did it mean to claim: “I am a photographer” at photography’s advent? How did these individuals come to identify themselves through a new technology, medium, and practice whose identity itself was constituted by a set of contested and competing techniques, aesthetics, discourses, and critical perspectives? Robinson, Rejlander, and Cameron’s texts speak to the fractious field of early photography and to how that discursive field positioned practitioners in novel ways. This study develops a historically specific and theoretically general conceptualization of the photographer, making a case for the ways this figure can be addressed as an object of study in its own right. This study’s focus on the writings of Robinson, Rejlander, and Cameron constitutes an effort to move beyond the well-plowed field of image analysis towards a consideration of how subjectivity is constituted and shaped by photographic practice. Keywords Photographer, Photography, Robinson, Rejlander, Cameron, Autobiography, Nineteenth Century, Foucault, Sloterdijk ii Acknowledgements This work has many authors. Without the steadfast patience, intellectual generosity, and enduring commitment of my supervisors Sharon Sliwinski and Helen Fielding, this dissertation would never have come into being. Their attentiveness to my work and their genuine care for my success was palpable from start to finish. I wish to also thank Matthew Rowlinson for his careful reading of my work and for his interest in the project that began when he attended my Theory Session on Julia Margaret Cameron. I am also very grateful to Thy Phu and Shawn Michelle Smith for taking the time to examine my dissertation and giving me the invaluable opportunity to develop my ideas at the annual Toronto Photography Seminar. Many thanks also to Jan Plug who served on my examining committee. I look back on my seminar with Professor Plug on deconstruction in 2009 as among the happiest memories of my time in graduate school. I would also like to thank the Centre for the Study of Theory and Criticism. My years at the Centre will be remembered as among the most satisfying and enjoying period of my intellectual life. I wish to say a special thank you to Melanie Caldwell who graciously assisted me with all manner of issues in my journey through the Centre – the Centre would be lost without you Melanie! I made many friends over the years at the Centre whose conversations have been truly transformative: thanks to Kamran Ahmed, David Jantzen, Kate Lawless, Will Samson, and Jason D’Aoust. Special thanks also to my friend Christopher Langlois whose work and work ethic continues to be a model to which I aspire. My conversations with Chris have been incredibly intellectually rewarding – indeed they count among the most rewarding – and he has also supplied me with a good dose of humor while writing this dissertation. Finally I wish to thank Andrew Weiss. Andrew has been a true friend, a trusted confidant, and an intellectual force. Finally, I want to thank my family: my Mom and Dad, Richard and Lydia, my brother and sister, Jim and Lisa. Thank you so much for being there for me whenever I needed you. Last but not least I thank my grandparents: William and Barbara Jewell and Worsley and Doris Fardy. I dedicate this work to their memory. iii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... iv List of Plates ................................................................................................................................. vi Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Photographer .................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 A Photographer ..................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Photography, Theory, and Biographical Criticism................................................................ 9 1.4 Scope ................................................................................................................................... 27 1.5 Outline of Chapters ............................................................................................................. 28 Chapter 2. Framing the Cases ................................................................................................... 32 2.1 The Cases ............................................................................................................................ 33 2.2 Points ................................................................................................................................... 39 2.3 Bubbles ................................................................................................................................ 45 2.4 Language and Embodiment ................................................................................................. 51 2.5 Interiorizing ......................................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 3. Photography and Pedagogy: The Case of Henry Peach Robinson ..................... 67 3.1 Pedagogy of Pictorialism .................................................................................................... 68 3.2 The Vacant Studio ............................................................................................................... 78 3.3 Moral Education .................................................................................................................. 83 3.4 The Subject Supposed to Know .......................................................................................... 87 3.5 The Itinerant Photographer.................................................................................................. 92 Chapter 4. Ways of Life: The Case of Oscar Gustave Rejlander ........................................... 95 4.1 Painter and Photographer .................................................................................................... 95 iv 4.2 When in Rome ..................................................................................................................... 98 4.3 Ackermann’s (Seeing Photographically) ............................................................................ 99 4.4 Coat Sleeve ........................................................................................................................ 105 4.5 A Young Miss ................................................................................................................... 107 4.6 You Photographers ............................................................................................................ 110 4.7 No Mind ............................................................................................................................ 111 4.8 Two Ways of Life ............................................................................................................. 113 Chapter 5. A Transport of Joy: The Case of