Roger Fenton

Give a brief description of the movement, photographer, or term you researched. How are they significant to the history of photography (50-75 words)?
            Roger Fenton was a pioneering British photographer. He was also one of the first war photographers. He studied law, and then decided to study painting. Several years down the road, he began to be interested in photography. He set up The Photographic Society, with himself as its founder in 1853. In 1855, he went to the Crimean War to photograph the troops. He was sent there as the first official war photographer at the insistence of Prince Albert. Fenton avoided making pictures of dead, injured, or mutilated soldiers. He was only able to take pictures of unmoving objects, or posed pictures. He also photographed landscapes. "The Valley of the Shadow of Death" was taken while under fire, and was considered to be a seminal piece of war photography.
 
 
Write a short personal reaction to the movement, photographer or term you researched. What is interesting or not interesting about the work (50 – 75 words).
            I'm usually not interested in anything that has to do with war or history, but when I saw the photograph "The Shadow of the Valley of Death", something really intrigued me. I'm not quite sure what it was, and then I read a little bit more about it, and I thought it was actually quite interesting learning about Roger Fenton. I found it interesting that in the beginning of his studies he was going to college for law, and then wound up doing something that is a ways away from law. I also have respect for the fact that he did not take pictures of dying/injured soldiers. I feel like many people back then would have taken those pictures in hopes of spreading news. I'm not really sure though. I would say that the only parts of the reading that were not interesting to me was his family life. Example : marriage, siblings, etc. Even though I'm sure that was a pretty big part of his life, but I enjoyed the photography aspect of it more.