Alexander Bassano

Alexander Bassano was a renowned British photographer, best known for his portraits of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and other members of the British Royal Family, as well as notable figures such as Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, and Florence Nightingale. His work was highly regarded by the Royal Photographic Society and the Photographic Society of London. Bassano's photographs were often published in The Illustrated London News and The Graphic, showcasing his talent to a wide audience, including William Ewart Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli. He was also acquainted with other prominent photographers, such as Julia Margaret Cameron and Lewis Carroll.

● Early Life and Education

Alexander Bassano was born in 1829 in London, England, to a family of Italian descent. His early life and education are not well-documented, but it is known that he was apprenticed to a London-based photographer, Richard Beard, who had worked with William Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre. Bassano's training with Beard would have exposed him to the latest techniques in daguerreotype and calotype photography, used by photographers such as Roger Fenton and Robert Adamson. He may have also been influenced by the work of Hill and Adamson, who were known for their portraits of Scottish nobility, including Prince Albert and Queen Victoria.

● Career

Bassano established his own photography studio in London's Regent Street in the 1850s, where he quickly gained a reputation for his high-quality portraits of British aristocracy, including Lord Palmerston and Lord Salisbury. His clients included The Prince of Wales, King Edward VII, and other members of the British Royal Family, as well as notable figures such as Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Bassano's studio became a popular destination for society portraits, and his work was often exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts and the Society of Arts, alongside that of other prominent photographers, such as Cecil Beaton and Yousuf Karsh.

● Photography Style and Technique

Bassano's photography style was characterized by his use of wet plate collodion process, which allowed for greater flexibility and creativity in his work. He was known for his ability to capture the subtleties of his subjects' expressions and personalities, as seen in his portraits of Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, and George Bernard Shaw. Bassano's technique involved the use of natural light and artificial lighting to create a sense of depth and dimension in his photographs, similar to the techniques used by Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey. He was also an early adopter of photographic printing techniques, such as carbon printing and platinum printing, which were used by photographers such as Peter Henry Emerson and Alvin Langdon Coburn.

● Notable Works and Legacy

Bassano's notable works include his portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, which are now held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London and the Royal Collection. His photographs of Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens are also highly regarded, and are considered to be among the most important portraits of these literary figures, alongside those taken by Napoleon Sarony and Ellen Terry. Bassano's legacy extends beyond his own work, as he influenced a generation of photographers, including Cecil Beaton and Yousuf Karsh, who went on to become prominent portrait photographers in their own right, photographing subjects such as Marilyn Monroe, Pablo Picasso, and Jawaharlal Nehru.

● Personal Life

Little is known about Bassano's personal life, but it is recorded that he was married and had several children. He was a member of the Royal Photographic Society and the Photographic Society of London, and was known to have been friends with other prominent photographers, such as Julia Margaret Cameron and Lewis Carroll. Bassano's studio remained in operation until his death in 1913, and his photographs continue to be celebrated for their technical excellence and historical significance, offering a glimpse into the lives of British aristocracy and notable figures of the time, including Theodore Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi, and Emmeline Pankhurst. Category:Photographers