The Two Ways of Life
Photograph
c. 1857 (photographed), 1925 (printed)
c. 1857 (photographed), 1925 (printed)
| Artist/Maker |
Framed photograph demonstrating Rejlander's technique of 'combination printing'. The original print was constructed from over 30 separate negatives, each exposed independently but printed to form a unified picture so large it required two sheets of paper joined together. It showed that a photograph could be composed in the manner of painting. The moralistic subject of two brothers choosing between vice and virtue also indicates the work’s high art aspirations.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Two Ways of Life (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Brown carbon print from 1925, from original wet collodion negatives, mounted in modern wooden frame |
| Brief description | Photograph by Oscar Gustav Rejlander, 'The Two Ways of Life'. Framed carbon print, photographed in 1857 but printed in 1925. |
| Physical description | Framed photograph demonstrating Rejlander's technique of 'combination printing'. The original print was constructed from over 30 separate negatives, each exposed independently but printed to form a unified picture so large it required two sheets of paper joined together. It showed that a photograph could be composed in the manner of painting. The moralistic subject of two brothers choosing between vice and virtue also indicates the work’s high art aspirations. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | Making It Up: Photographic Fictions
Rejlander pioneered the technique of ‘combination printing’, whereby parts of a photograph are exposed independently but printed together to form a unified picture. He constructed this ambitious tableau from over thirty separate negatives in part to demonstrate that a photograph could be composed in the manner of painting. The moralistic subject of two brothers choosing between vice and virtue also indicates the work’s high art aspirations.
Marta Weiss |
| Credit line | The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | RPS.1641-2017 |
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| Record created | June 6, 2017 |
| Record URL |
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