I bought a book called “A Record of England” about Sir Benjamin Stone and The National Record Association which is comprised mainly of photographs made around the turn of the 19’th and 20’th centuries. It is jointly published by the Victoria and Albert Museum who acquired much of this collection in 2000 from the British Museum, and Dewi Lewis Publishing, well known for their production of better quality photographic books.
On the cover is an amusing photograph from The Warwick Pageant of 1906 (to find the relevant caption I had to dive into the book and search for the image there which was on page 103). It shows a collection of characters, both adults and children, dressed for the performance of a “traditional” (many of these dramas were not as old as might be assumed having been reinvented) drama; some hold spears and shields, their dress looks medieval and one wears the mask of a bear. It is a superb photograph no doubt much improved by having been scanned and digitally enhanced.
All the photographs in the book were made by Sir Benjamin Stone, a businessman who later went into politics and took up photography in the 1880’s. My interest is particularly in his documentation of folk rituals but this book deals with his complete oeuvre containing not just records of old buildings and the like but people from that era such as politicians and other folk such as a policeman who was on duty outside The Houses of Parliament in 1899.
The book is a refreshing memory of the past and accompanying text explains the context in which this work was made. Sir Benjamin Stone was responsible for starting the National Photographic Record Association in July 1987 whose directive was to record antiquities such as ancient buildings, folk customs and other itmes of historical interest to create a kind of national memory to foster a “national pride.” In fact, what Stone and the NPRA were doing was not as unique as might be assumed since this kind of awareness of photography’s potential had been around since the inception of the medium some 50 years earlier. The Amateur Photographer magazine which continues to this day had started and encouraged it’s readers to gather “into a collected form, by means of a camera, a class of objects whose interest partakes of the archaeological character” (The Amateur Photographer, 1887).
This kind of recording work was taken up largely by people who had the time to do so as well as the skills since although the approach was quite basic and did not expect any great artistic talent, there was still the need to compose a subject then expose and develop the recording material. As Sir Benjamin Stone said on the 19’th of November 1903 to the Erdington Working Men’s Club, “Photography [is] … a means of enlightenment and education, but more emphatically so when used to record events which would interest those who would, in the future, look back upon our times as distant epochs in our nation’s history.” Although directing his thoughts in a particular direction, Stone was making a general point about photography.
Perhaps my favourite image in this book is of the Corby Pole Fair in which the Chairman of the district Council and other public officials are photographed in the stocks with their pints of ale in front of them; a large croup of people stand around them, all looking into camera. One is unlikely to see politicians engaging in this kind of self-depratory humour these days and this was presumably uncommon then. The date is given as 1901.
There has been coverage of Sir Benjmain Stone with Customs and Faces, a book by Bill Jay and also an exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery ). Stone, nicknamed Sir Snapshot, was more than a photographer who recorded a quaint side to Britain, he also made important portraits. Contemporary photographers have also explored the theme of olde England notably Homer Sykes
Progressing With Digital Photography 