Henry Peach Robinson (British, 1830–1901)

b. 1830 — d. 1901

Henry Peach Robinson British, 1830-1901 Considered the founder of the pictorialist school of photography, Henry Peach Robinson is both a highly regarded and a controversial figure in the history of the medium. Born in Ludlow, Shropshire, Robinson began his career as a painter and became interested in photography in 1852. In 1857 he opened a portrait studio. A leading exponent of photography as a fine art, Robinson is best known for his composite photographs. Constructed through a process of design similar to painting, these images were produced by first assembling several individual photographs and then rephotographing them into a final composition. They were particularly popular with the Victorian public, in part for their sentimental content. Robinson's manipulative approach, however, raised hotly contended questions among critics and artists. Robinson exhibited extensively, receiving more than 100 medals, prizes, and honors. Called "the Nestor of pictorial photography," he lectured and published numerous articles and 10 books, which not only appeared in later editions but often can be found today. He was affiliated with the Linked Ring, the Photographic Exchange Club, the Amateur Photographic Association, and the Royal Photographic Society, serving as vice president in 1887 and named an Honorary Fellow in 1900. One of Robinson's earliest and most controversial photographs was Fading Away, shown in 1858 and bought by Prince Albert for his collection. This era marks the high-water point of the pictorialists' synthetic approach, even though the discussion of manipulated prints would continue throughout the century. T.W.F.