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Original Bedford photograph of Harlech Castle Wales, 1856-1864 before the Railway, looking down the old stage-coach road. Double back-to-back Photograph.

£125.00

1 in stock

Additional information

Weight 100 g
Dimensions 610 × 460 × 460 mm
letter package

LARGE LETTER POST Padded Envelope 250g 1st Class Post £1.50

Harlech Castle

This early picturesque view of Harlech Castle always stands out for me as a true and poetic symbol, standing proud between the sea and the foothills of Snowdonia. The Topographical Photographs of Francis Bedford, 1816-1894, was one of the best known English landscape photographers of the wet-plate period. He worked extensively in the South West of England, the West Midlands and in Wales. Most of the negatives were taken after 1860. The few taken as late as the 1890s were the work of Bedford’s son. In 1864 he contributed to The Ruined Castles of North Wales and over the next four years produced a whole series of Photographic Views covering North Wales,
1, An albumen photograph of Harlech Castle Wales. This large photo measures 29cm by 24 cm. It shows the castle and surounding cottages in an idilic coastal setting. Card mount have slight crease on one corner, photograph perfect.
2, An albumen photo of a river scene , 21cm by 16cm titled on the mount, Criccieth, Llanystymdwy Glen, Wales. This beautifully toned photograph is marked Bedford 1818. ( Plate number) Shows over hanging trees, fast moving water    (not fast enough to capture and freeze water movement as with modern cameras), shows part of three bridge arches through tree branches. These photographs are mounted back to back on card.
In a Keynote article, entitled Landscape Photography and its Trials published in the Year-book of Photography and reprinted in The Philadelphia Photographer Vol XIII, No 148, April 1876, Francis Bedford wrote as follows:-  But it is quite possible on the roughest days to get good results with the exercise of a little patience. Of course, if wind blows continuously, as it does sometimes without cessation, landscape photography is simply impossible; but when it comes in sudden gusts, violent enough, perhaps, to dash the camera to the ground, there are intervals of perfect stillness, during which foliage may be rendered perfectly by uncapping and capping the lens at the right time. A plate carefully prepared, with a bath in good order, and then closely drained, will keep longer than is generally supposed, and it will be hard if one cannot, during half or three-quarters of an hour.<b> Get the requisite two or three minutes exposure. But I would suggest here that he should, first of all, fix his camera-stand firmly in the ground, and then, with a stout string, suspend from the screw-head a big stone or other heavy weight.</b> He will then be free from any solicitude for the safety of his camera, and can give all his thoughts to his work. Sometimes small shrubs or weeds in the foreground cause such annoyance by their motion when all else is still; these may be judiciously pruned without injury to property. If a bough of a tree obtrudes, or is otherwise troublesome, it is better to tie it back out of the way, and release it as soon as your view is taken. These photographs are mounted back to back on card. A single purchase with Llanystymdwy Bridge Glen, Criccieth,  Wales.  Y738hc12.