Uncommon previous Pictures Present how Folks Lived within the 1850s
The year that marked the middle of the 19th century was a turning point for much of the world – just two years earlier, Europe had been embroiled in a series of revolutions that announced that the age of absolute monarchs and the age of nation-states were over Come. In addition to political unrest, the economy was also in transition from the First to the Second Industrial Revolution.
The end of the 18th century saw a radical improvement in manufacturing in countries such as England and France. After this breakthrough, Germany, Italy and the United States quickly caught up in the mid-19th century and developed into independent economic powers.
Candle sellers in front of the cathedral, Chartres, France. Photo taken by Charles Nègre, 1851.
The organ grinder with two children listening. Photo taken by Charles Nègre in the backyard of his workshop at Quai de Bourbon 21 on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris, around 1853.
G. Roman, self-portrait, 1851.
Three chimney sweeps on the Quai de Bourbon, Paris, around 1851.
The Chimney Sweeps by Charles Nègre, c.1851-2.
A Moorish woman with her maid
Captain Hawkes and his daughters, circa 1850. Salted paper print from a reinterpreted calotype negative. Attributed to the Scottish photographer Thomas Rodger (1832 – 1883).
Carriage and team of two horses in Beaulieu, country house of Jean-Gabriel Eynard. Daguerreotype, around 1850.
“The Vampire” – Painter/photographer Henri Le Secq poses behind a gargoyle at Notre-Dame de Paris. Photo taken by Charles Nègre, 1853.
The Chattar Manzil Palace and the Royal Boat of Oude on the Gomti River in Lucknow, India. Photo taken by Felice Beato, 1858. Albumen silver print.
The Geography Lesson, 1851. Image from the stereoscopic daguerreotype of Jean Francois Antoine Claudet.
Sculpture gallery in the “Crystal Palace”, London World's Fair, 1851.
Machines became ubiquitous in manufacturing processes and millions of people earned their living by working in factories. Steamships and telegraph companies connected the New World with the Old. There were migrations from Europe to America – many of them political refugees who had to flee after the wave of national European revolutions of 1848.
But as the world changed rapidly, an invention of no less revolutionary significance would finally allow this transgression to be documented in the most realistic way. Photography arrived just in time to provide a quick and efficient tool for capturing the zeitgeist in images that would resonate for eternity.
Soon after the introduction of the first cameras, professional photographers began traveling the world in search of interesting and relevant portraits, breathtaking landscapes and events of historical significance.
These photographers emphasized the importance of capturing everyday life and ordinary people, leaving an invaluable mark on the world's cultural heritage.
Thomas Martin Easterly's Daguerreotype Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri, 1851.
Daguerreotype of four children from the 1850s.
Poodle of Empress Eugénie, 1850s. Salted paper print from collodion glass negative, from the studio of André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri.
Group portrait of Franz Antoine, dated 1850s-60s.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel and others observe the launch attempt of the SS Great Eastern in November 1857.
Italian street musicians
Lynch's Slave Market by Thomas Easterly, c.1852. St. Louis. Missouri.
Mortar batteries in front of Picquet House, Light Division, 1855. Island of Guernsey. Image taken by Roger Fenton (English, 1819-1869).
Calotype depicting a scene from the Great Exhibition of 1851. Hyde Park, London. Attributed to William Henry Fox Talbot.
Paris, around 1851.
Main Street – Oxford, Ohio. On the left is an Elias Kumler and RE Hills store. The large building in the center of the photo is the Mansion House Hotel.
Paris
Portrait of the writer Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
Pyramids of El-Geezeh (from the southwest) by Francis Frith, c.1862.
Quartermaster Fabry of the 1st Hussars. One of the last surviving veterans of Napoleon's army. He is pictured here in full dress uniform and wearing the Saint Helene Medal (issued on August 12, 1857 to all veterans of the wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire). Date probably May 5, 1858.
Roadside scene, 1850s.
San Francisco, 1851.
San Francisco Harbor, 1850 or 1851.
Shew's Daguerreian Saloon, San Francisco, 1851.
From family portraits suspicious of the evil device capturing their image to political figures like Napoleon III. and the eighth President of the United States, Martin Van Buren, this collection provides an excellent overview of the 1850s.
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Add to this mix the famous construction and departure of the British steamship SS Great Eastern, a Persian dignitary, and a beautiful 19th-century cityscape of Jerusalem, allowing you to enjoy the world through the lens of photographers who lived and died 160 years ago worked.
