The first exhibition of landscapes by the great Victorian photographer Benjamin Brecknell Turner will be
staged in The Canon Photography Gallery at the V&A. Rural England Through a Victorian Lens:
Benjamin Brecknell Turner will open on 5 April 2001.
Known for his beautiful early photographs of rural England, Turner was one of the first, and remains
one of the most respected, of all British photographers. Between 1852 and 1854 he compiled 60 of his
photographs under the title Photographic Views from Nature. A section from this superb collection of
vintage photographs will be seen for the first time together and will form the basis of the exhibition and
accompanying book.
Turner's photographs offer an intriguing historical and topographical insight as well as being creative
expressions in their own right. A tranquil stillness pervades his images, which were often made on bright early spring or winter days with branches and rooflines outlined crisply against the sky. Alongside country scenes, made in and around the counties of Worcestershire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Yorkshire, Turner also photographed the radical modern architecture of Crystal Palace in London's
Hyde Park.
The exhibition will be the first to examine Turner's role as a major photographer, as well as providing a
fascinating glimpse of nineteenth-century rural and urban life. The exhibition will compliment the V&A's major Spring exhibition, Inventing New Britain: The Victorian Vision running from the 5 April to 29 July 2001.
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