A New Power: Photography in Britain 1800-1850 at Bodleian Libraries [Oxford]

A New Power: Photography in Britain 1800-1850

1 February – 7 May 2023

This exhibition explores the early history of photography. Starting with it's invention and the earliest distribution of photographic images in Britain, and ending with the famous Great Exhibition of 1851. A New Power reveals photography’s crucial role in making Britain the society it is today.

The Royal Collection is lending five daguerreotypes, a very early type of photograph. This includes four works by William Edward Kilburn. The Royal Family commissioned Kilburn to take some of their earliest photographic portraits. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were early enthusiasts of photography and closely followed its development.