Episode 1 | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Duration: 58'57''

Synopsis

Eamonn McCabe explores how science and technology allowed pioneering photographers like Roger Fenton and Julia Margaret Cameron to create a new art form.

Further Information

More clips from Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Documentary photography in colour | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Documentary photography in colour | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 5'22''

Monochrome was always considered the serious choice for documentary work until John Bulmer began a...

Episode 2 | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Episode 2 | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 59'04''

Eamonn McCabe explores how British photographers responded to historic events in the first half of the 20th century and tr...

Episode 3 | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Episode 3 | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 59'03''

Photographer Eamonn McCabe traces the story of British photography from the explosion of colour images in the late 1950s t...

Fay Godwin | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Fay Godwin | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 4'06''

Faye Godwin wasn't recognised for years until her signature collection ''Land'', which captured Britain's landscapes in s...

Fox Talbot and early photography | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Fox Talbot and early photography | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 2'27''

Demonstrating the practical steps Fox Talbot took to improve his photographic processes.

John Hinde's colour photographs | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

John Hinde's colour photographs | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 2'37''

Martin Parr discusses John Hinde's famous use of pioneering technicolour in his postcards.

Julia Margaret Cameron's soft focus | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Julia Margaret Cameron's soft focus | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 4'11''

Cameron is famed for being the first to use soft focus in photography and claimed she came to th...

Mishka Henner | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Mishka Henner | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 4'29''

Mishka Henner makes artwork with images he finds on the internet, and in his studio, there isn't even a camera in sigh...

Queen Victoria and portrait photography | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Queen Victoria and portrait photography | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 5'27''

Eamonn McCabe discusses the history of Victorian portrait photography and it's importance to...

Roger Fenton | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Roger Fenton | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 3'34''

Roger Fenton pioneered early landscape photography and strived to make photography into fine art.

Vanley Burke | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Vanley Burke | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 4'37''

Burke is one of the most important historical documentarians for afro-Caribbean culture in Britain today.

Victorian Polaroid | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Victorian Polaroid | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 3'51''

A demonstration of the early processes and chemical concoctions used in early photography.

More resources about Photography

Cindy Sherman - Nobody's Here But Me | Arena

Cindy Sherman - Nobody's Here But Me | Arena

BBC Two | 1994

Using herself as the model, American artist Cindy Sherman has produced hundreds of photographs exploring the use of female stere...

Tom Wood | What Do Artists Do All Day?

Tom Wood | What Do Artists Do All Day?

BBC Four | 2014 | 28'48''

Profile of photographer Tom Wood as he visits Mayo in the west of Ireland, documenting his encounters whilst photographing the landsca...

01: 1800-1914: Fixing the Shadows | The Genius of Photography

01: 1800-1914: Fixing the Shadows | The Genius of Photography

BBC Four | 2007 | 58'58''

How a technical problem was solved in 1839, paving the way for practical application.

01: A Style of One's Own | Standard Grade Art and Design

01: A Style of One's Own | Standard Grade Art and Design

BBC Two | 1990 | 18'55''

Program follows two photographers, Ian Phillips and Roslyn Gaunt, as they each fulfill a fashion photography brief f...

02: 1918-1945: Documents for Artists | The Genius of Photography

02: 1918-1945: Documents for Artists | The Genius of Photography

BBC Four | 2007 | 59'08''

Following World War I, photography was the medium of the age, and used to promote radical utopia.

03: Right Place, Right Time | The Genius of Photography

03: Right Place, Right Time | The Genius of Photography

BBC Four | 2007 | 59'09''

Photography at its best makes viewers eyewitnesses to events like D-Day, the Holocaust and Hiroshima.

04: Paper Movies | The Genius of Photography

04: Paper Movies | The Genius of Photography

BBC Four | 2007 | 59'08''

The three decades from the late 1950s onwards were the golden age of photographic journeys and colour photography.

05: We Are Family | The Genius of Photography

05: We Are Family | The Genius of Photography

BBC Four | 2007 | 58'59''

How the medium translates personal relationships into photographic ones, and what happens when photographers turn their cameras...

06: Snap Judgements | The Genius of Photography

06: Snap Judgements | The Genius of Photography

BBC Four | 2007 | 59'15''

A look at the current state of the art, from phone cameras to digital post-production, and the rediscovery of 19th century te...

Albert Watson | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

Albert Watson | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

BBC Four | 2017 | 2'33''

The difference with Albert Watson's landscape photography is that he manipulates the images using any means necessary; in...

Albert Watson | What Do Artists Do All Day?

Albert Watson | What Do Artists Do All Day?

BBC Four | 2014 | 28'20''

Documentary following Albert Watson over the course of a day photographing the barren, beautiful landscape of the Isle of Skye.

Angus McBean | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

Angus McBean | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

BBC Four | 2017 | 3'31''

Archive recordings of Angus McBean reveal his beginnings in the theatre taking portrait photographs of Laurence Olivier.

Ansel Adams | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

Ansel Adams | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

BBC Four | 2017 | 2'03''

Ansel Adams spoke to the BBC a year before his death about some of his most famous landscape photographs.

Beauty in fashion photography | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

Beauty in fashion photography | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

BBC Four | 2017 | 3'36''

David Hurn was one of the first of the new breed of fashion photographers, who used to shoot in his own s...

Cindy Sherman | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

Cindy Sherman | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

BBC Four | 2017 | 4'00''

Cindy Sherman's use of self-portraiture has set her apart from her peers as she transforms herself into unnerving charact...

Corinne Day and Kate Moss | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

Corinne Day and Kate Moss | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

BBC Four | 2017 | 1'48''

Corinne Day, a former model, switched the focus from the photographer to the model and in doing so sparked Ka...

Dennis Morris | What Do Artists Do All Day?

Dennis Morris | What Do Artists Do All Day?

BBC Four | 2016 | 28'39''

Following Dennis Morris, whose images of Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols helped define the art of rock photography, at work as he ...

Different types of photography | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

Different types of photography | On Camera: Photographers at the BBC

BBC Four | 2017 | 1'03''

A brief rundown of the different types of photographer and their attributes.

Dougie Wallace | What Do Artists Do All Day?

Dougie Wallace | What Do Artists Do All Day?

BBC Four | 2017 | 29'27''

Film following photographer Dougie Wallace as he finishes Harrodsburg, a series documenting the super-rich in one of the UK's mo...

Episode 2 | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

Episode 2 | Britain in Focus: Photographic History

BBC Four | 2017 | 59'04''

Eamonn McCabe explores how British photographers responded to historic events in the first half of the 20th century and tr...