The Valley of the Shadow of Death 1855

Roger Fenton made this photograph, "The Valley of the Shadow of Death," using the wet collodion process during the Crimean War. It depicts a barren landscape strewn with cannonballs, evoking the biblical verse about death's dark valley. Fenton was commissioned by a publisher to document the war, with the implicit expectation that he would stir up pro-war sentiment back home in Britain. However, what he produced was a conflicted and ambiguous set of images. The photograph's title and desolate scene create meaning through cultural associations with mortality. The Crimean War was controversial, and the British public were increasingly aware of the conflict's grim realities due to reports from war correspondents. Fenton's photograph may be interpreted as a commentary on the war's devastating consequences, critiquing the romanticized notions of warfare that were common at the time. Historical research, including military records, correspondence, and period newspapers, help to better understand the complex historical context. Art's meaning is contingent on its social and institutional background, as this photograph's visual codes create meaning through its association to the conflict in Crimea.