The British Library holds an exhibition of photographs of middle of the XIX century, brought by British photographers from distant travelling. These are the first images of the remote corners of the world, which left an indelible impression on the British Victorian era. The desire of people to see the places in faded, black and white photographs with their own eyes can be considered the beginning of the era of tourism. People started to travel not in search of commercial gain or conquest expeditions, but they started the long-distance travel for the sole purpose – to satisfy their own curiosity.
Shoshenq Yard, Karnak, Egypt
Photographer: Francis Frith, 1850
Emerged in the middle of the XIX century, the first photos of architectural monuments caused such a wild interest of public that not only spurred the development of the photographic industry, but also created a new market for photographic postcards.
Colosseum, Rome, Italy
Photographer: Calvert Richard Jones, 1846
In subsequent decades the photography experienced a rapid growth and constant improvement of technology.
Moscow, Russia
Photographer: unknown, 1841
The camera has become an indispensable attribute of the traveler, and images brought back from distant places were the best souvenir. And this is especially in an era when photography had not yet received the widespread distribution and was considered a very expensive hobby.
Boulevards of Paris, France
Photographer: William Henry Fox Talbot, 1843
Disappointed by his own inability to draw, the English scientist William Henry Fox Talbot worked to improve the methods of photography. And he achieved a considerable success in this. He also became the publisher of the world’s first book, illustrated with photos.
View of Seine, Paris, France
Photographer: Charles Louis Chevalier, 1843
The first company specialized in organizing trips was founded by Thomas Cook. Already in the fifties of the XIX century a group trip to Paris and Northern Europe has become commonplace for the British. People wishing to spend 11 pounds on the cognitive and pleasant trip turned out to be thousands, and by the end of the century the “Thomas Cook and Son” company has expanded its activities also in the New World.
Royal Opera House, Madrid, Spain
Photographer: Charles Clifford, 1853
Born Welshman Charles Clifford settled in Madrid in 1850, where he got carried away filming Spanish architecture, and actively inculcated countrymen interested in Spanish culture and traditions.
Ramesseum, Thebes, Egypt
Photographer: Francis Frith, 1857
Having stood for thousands of years the monuments of ancient Egypt were under threat of extinction in the XIX century because of the rapidly growing number of homegrown archaeologists and European museums that were enthusiastically buying up antiquity. Francis Frith considered photography to be an essential tool for capturing fast disappearing form of historical monuments.
Palm trees and mimosa, Calabash, Egypt
Photographer: Félix Teynard, 1841
Civil engineer Felix Teynard systematically documented all the major Egyptian sites near Cairo, and left the “descendants ” hundreds of photos.
Quay of Naples, Italy
Photographer: Adolphe Braun, 1868
Books with illustrated photographs began to appear in the 60-ies of the XIX century as a luxury item and were then available only to wealthy people. But gradually the development of photography and printing business made photo albums available also to the middle class, which also underpinned a rapid increase in the army of travelers.
Falls Staub, Switzerland
Photographer: Adolphe Braun, 1866
Adolph Brown, who replaced the craft of engineer with the camera, became one of the first professional photographers, specializing in shooting landscapes, and it worked successfully in the emerging industry of photographic postcards.
Boats of Irrawaddy, Burma
Photographer: Philip Adolphe Klier, 1880
The invention of photography coincided with a period of unprecedented expansion of European colonization. A rapid development of the transport network, which was headed by a steam engine, made possible not only the active international trade, but also the mass tourism.
