Recruiting Sergeants at Westminster
Photograph
1877 (photographed)
1877 (photographed)
| Artist/Maker |
This photograph is from the series Street Life in London, first published in instalments in 1877-1878. The publication was one of the earliest social documentary photography projects. The people were posed by the photographer but the results were often naturalistic because of the authentic subjects and surroundings. John Thomson and the journalist Adolphe Smith wrote commentaries to accompany each image. Here they noted that the cavalry sergeants standing outside the pub were employed to 'cajole simple minded and ignorant youths' to join the infantry. They were paid for each man they enlisted. Between the heads of the sergeants is a policeman, stationed outside the pub to 'keep order'.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Recruiting Sergeants at Westminster (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Woodburytype |
| Brief description | 19thC; Thomson John, Sergeants,Street life in London |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | Gallery 100 ‘A History of Photography’, 2014-2015, label text:
John Thomson (1837–1921)
‘Recruiting Sergeants at Westminster’, ‘Cast Iron Billy’, ‘Mush-Fakers and Ginger-Beer Makers’, ‘Covent Garden Flower Women’
From the series ‘Street Life in London’
1876–77
These are some of the earliest examples of social documentary photography. The figures were posed by Thomson to form interesting compositions. These included the omnibus driver ‘Cast Iron Billy’, sergeants waiting outside a pub to enlist potential army recruits and the ‘mush-faker’, who sold used umbrellas.
Woodburytypes
Given by Mrs D. Crisp
Museum nos. Ph.318, 337, 342, 317-1982
(06 03 2014) |
| Summary | This photograph is from the series Street Life in London, first published in instalments in 1877-1878. The publication was one of the earliest social documentary photography projects. The people were posed by the photographer but the results were often naturalistic because of the authentic subjects and surroundings. John Thomson and the journalist Adolphe Smith wrote commentaries to accompany each image. Here they noted that the cavalry sergeants standing outside the pub were employed to 'cajole simple minded and ignorant youths' to join the infantry. They were paid for each man they enlisted. Between the heads of the sergeants is a policeman, stationed outside the pub to 'keep order'. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | PH.318-1982 |
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| Record created | July 30, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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