A new exhibition – which the Guardian gave five stars – tells the story of the birth of art photography. Here are some of the most astounding images, along with tales of the strange techniques that made them In the mist … Ho Fan’s 1959 image Smoky World. n Yevonde (1893-1975)is perhaps best known for her vibrant, stylised society portraits. Working in her studio over the 1930s, Yevonde transformed her models into goddesses and mythical beings using elaborate props and costumes.
In this image Edith Hart-Davis portrays the spirit Ariel from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. _Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography runs at Tate Modern until 21 February 2027_ don From the late 19th century, photographers embraced pictorialism, not as a style but as a shared ambition: to claim photography as an expressive art form equal to painting, printmaking and sculpture. These photographers experimented with subject matter, printing processes and exhibition formats to assert the creative agency of the photographer. Their works were circulated through an extensive network of photographic societies, salons and journals across Europe, Asia, the Americas and beyond Collection at the V&A/Courtesy the Estate of the Artist Edward Weston (1886–1958) was an influential American photographer who moved away from pictorialism’s painterly effects towards a sharp, precise and modernist style, becoming a leading figure in straight photography and later a member of the influential collective Group f/64.
This image, taken in his California studio, depicts a nautilus shell balanced within an abalone shell, using dramatic contrasts of light and shadow to emphasise their sculptural forms and abstract, organic beauty (1897–1965) was once one of Hollywood’s leading portrait and glamour photographers. Yet his expressionist aesthetics, influenced by the paintings of Goya, Friedrich and Bosch, led to an increasing fascination with the strange, the gothic and the occult; and it took him down a different path. His 1920s photo Nymph showcases his intense command of chemical and physical manipulation.
Mortensen routinely altered his prints by hand using razor blades, inks, texture screens and mirror distortions to strip away the ‘mechanical’ look of the camera prings/Estate of William Mortensen Peter Henry Emerson and Thomas Frederick Goodall: Gathering Water-Lilies, 1885 The British photographer and naturalist Peter Henry Emerson (1856 –1936) established himself as an authoritative voice in photography in the late 19th century. Reflections and symmetry were important aspects of Emerson’s photographs. In works such as Gathering Water-Lilies, the use of reflection creates an atmospheric balance between light and dark Cavendish Morton (1874-1939) specialised in portraits of stage actors and society’s elite.
This photograph depicts actor Lizzie Avery. Alongside fellow actor Mattie Edwards, Avery starred in In Dahomey, the first musical comedy written and performed by an entirely Black cast and crew. They made significant contributions to the performing arts throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the US and UK don Ho Fan (1931–2016) was an accomplished street photographer, capturing the rapid modernisation and restless energy of his home town, Hong Kong, in quietly poetic form.
He transformed everyday street life into scenes shaped by dramatic light, disciplined composition and a cinematic sense of narrative. In works such as Smoky World, we sense a theatre of fleeting encounters as silhouettes and shadowy figures emerge through the haze and light. Much of his work reveals his ability to elevate the ordinary, offering a timeless portrait of Hong Kong.
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