Lewis Carroll: Photography on the Move

Description

As Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland celebrates its 150th birthday, Lewis Carroll remains one of Victorian culture’s most prominent and compelling figures. Few readers, however, have had the chance to explore the extent of Carroll’s passion for photography, a new technology that was gaining popularity during his lifetime. Lewis Carroll: Photography on the Move follows the journey of Carroll’s photography in tandem with his writing.Beginning in the glass studio Carroll had built above his college rooms at Christ Church, Oxford, this book traces his fascination for photographs through his visits to London theatres, his annual trips to the seaside town of Eastbourne and hisextraordinary excursion to Russia in 1867. Many of the preoccupations that make Carroll’s writing so remarkable are alsopresent in his photography, particularly his interest in the boundless imaginations of children. Carroll was also an avid collector of photographs and, on occasion, commissioned professional photographers to set up studio sittings. Photography, a medium for which Carroll is not primarily known, remained a lifelong attachment for him.This engaging and beautifully illustrated book reveals an unseen side of the renowned writer. It examines nineteenth-century visual and literary culture in accessible prose, giving a valuable and cogent account of Carroll’s visual and literary career.