Rocks in the Llugwy 1859

Roger Fenton made this stereoscopic photograph, Rocks in the Llugwy, sometime in the mid-19th century. Fenton was one of the pioneers of photography, active at a time when the medium was still in its infancy. His photographs often capture landscapes or scenes from daily life, reflecting the Victorian era’s fascination with documenting and classifying the world. But I wonder, what stories are hidden beneath the surface of these seemingly objective images? Fenton, as a man of his time, occupied a position of privilege, and his gaze was inevitably shaped by his social and cultural context. What does it mean to look at nature through the eyes of someone who is both part of and apart from it? These aren't the kind of photographs that reveal the violence of colonialism, or the costs of industrialization. Instead, Fenton invites a quiet moment of contemplation. Can we use this moment to also ask ourselves about what stories are not told?