Crimean War photography goes on display

The photographs of four photography pioneers are to go on display at a London gallery next month.

The National Army Museum will be showcasing the work of four photographers in the exhibition "First Shots: Early War Photography 1848­1860" at the White Space Gallery in Chelsea, London, in September.

Taken from the Crimean War (1848-1856) and the Second Sikh War (1848), the photographs include a collection from Roger Fenton, who was sent to the Crimea by Prince Albert in an attempt to alter public opposition to the war, and was told before he departed for the frontline: "No dead bodies."

Fenton documented the aftermath of the Valley of Death in 1855. Photographers James Robertson and Felice Beato will also have their Crimean War photography put on display. The earliest images in the exhibition were taken by Josh McCosh in 1848 during the war between the Sikh Empire and the British Empire in the Punjab.

A spokesperson commented on the exhibition: "First Shots will document war photography in its infancy. Using some of the earliest photos in the museum's collection, it will explore what drove its pioneers, the technical, social and environmental pressures which shaped their work and the impact which the images they produced had upon culture and society".

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