Loredana D'Andrea goes back in time to visit Prince Albert and his graceful Victorian chums.
Like many people I find the Victorian era fascinating, along with all the kitsch objects, photographs, the obscure facts and especially all the lavish personal sentiment that goes along with it – although I’d probably rather not dwell on what that says about my character… So walking into the Camille Silvy exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery I feel like an excited street urchin, ready to bask in the refinement of photographs that are going to take me back in time.
As I enter it seems that the exhibition is armed with enough sepia tone to keep me interested; but I admit I feel a little dissatisfied to see impressively photographed landscapes rather than Victorians themselves. Though as I walk through to another room I catch a glimpse of something that fills one of my Victorian interests/ requirements, and that is…the miniature. Five delightful photographic miniature portraits on the cover of a large album immediately take my interest, along with a hand painted portrait within a small case. It’s also a fine touch to see along with some cartes-de-visite, a box they would have been sent in. The small object, just big enough to fit them snugly inside, is marked “C Silvy & Co.” indicating the photographer as businessman.
Another insightful detail is a proof sheet for the photographs on stamps. Looking like a work of modern art, the surrounds are stuck on top of a series of sitting portraits. Lightly placed hands poke out of the frames repeating with slight variations of head placement. These, along with the addition of Silvy’s well documented Daybooks, reveal that the exhibition intends on showing a glimpse of how Silvy worked. So when it comes to completed images it is Silvy’s cartes-de-visite that are most photographically beautiful. Dramatic when viewed close, the large card mounting – unusual for the era – adds to the contrast of these small images.
It’s a nice surprise when my beloved Prince Albert (aka Victorian dreamboat) – though looking a little past his sell by date for my liking – turns up. In an album full of royal portraits, lying open on one page is a small image of him with his own elegantly signed autograph. Working under the patronage of Queen Victoria, Silvy photographed royalty, aristocrats and celebrities alike.
Reaching the end of the exhibition, it occurs to me that for a show that bears his name, I haven’t learnt so much about Camille Silvy. His character only filters out slightly in the jolly self portraits of himself in fancy dress, some sketched and some photographed. It’s a shock to learn that after retiring from photography he spent his last thirty-one years in psychiatric asylums. Perhaps though that’s the only overwhelming aspect of the exhibition; all else is refined and subtle just as the images are – full of Victorian grace.
Camille Silvy - Photographer of Modern Life is at the National Portrait Gallery until 24th October 2010.
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Image credit: Silvy in his Studio with his Family, 1866 by Camille Silvy. Copyright: Private Collection, Paris
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