Beyond The Shot: The Hidden Value Of Art Photography

Who has found themself in a situation where they felt the need to take a photo? Everyone probably. Nowadays, photos are part of our reality and everyone has a phone camera full of photographs. We may not readily notice but it is amazing how much can be captured in a photographic image, from fun times to social commentary from fear to joy and so much more. An image can capture a whole town a whole time frame on top of a whole set of emotions. Find out more here in Beyond The Shot: The Hidden Value Of Art Photography.

Indeed, photography, at every level, is a form of art that consists of capturing details and glimpses of reality, from the stolen shots of every-day-life moments to the artfully constructed scenarios. The great power of photography derives from its capacity to enclose memories as well as its capability of immortalising places, people, and situations, giving them a freeze in time that allows the author to collect them and keep them forever.

On the other hand, art photography does not just consist of finding the right light for a shot or showcasing the most suitable model, location or style; it is very much about spreading a message that eventually can have an impact on society. In fact, the power of images can be wider and even more impactful than every other form of expression.

What is particularly intriguing about photography is the great variety of interpretations that can be made of this same form of art, from the exaltation and celebration of beauty to the awareness raising in regard to complex realities.

Have you ever walked past a grand English house and wanted to know what it looks like inside? Well, here is your chance to get nosey. ‘London Lost Interiors’ is a new book by the architectural historian Steven Bindle that features “the work of over a hundred of the 19th and 20th century’s most influential architects” who were working in London at that time, also including “unreleased photos of the private houses of the 20th century London based architects”. Among those acclaimed architects, the book features Serge Chermayeff, Oliver Hill, Thomas Jeckyll, Edward Lutyens and Richard Normal Shaw, and displays the houses of Clough Williams Ellis, and Jeffry Wyatt, among the most notable.

The book is, indeed, a celebration of the beauty of London interior architecture, giving the readers glimpses of an unseen reality, that of the most spectacular private houses of the 19th and 20th centuries. ‘London Lost Interiors’ showcases a somewhat ‘lost world’, identifiable with the period from the Victorian Age of Empire to post-war modernism and austerity. 

The ornate Smoking Room at 43 Wimpole Street. Photo 1893 © Historic England.

Moreover, the differentiation of choices in regards to interior architecture reveals the changing tastes in society as well as the innovation that has been brought to the houses over the years. As an example, some of the shots include the “first houses to feature electric light, private passenger lifts, plate-glass windows, sheet-cut marble, chrome, fluorescent lighting, aluminium foil ceilings, glass bricks, modern bathrooms and so much more”, which were considered to be modern design innovations at that time.

Rosslyn Tower with bespoke Liberty Interiors by Leonard F. Wyburd, design director of Liberty & Co. Photo 1907 © Historic England.

The book displays a total of 650 marvellous photographs, that ranges from the aristocratic houses of the Victorian Age to the “tiny art-deco apartments of the vanguard of interwar modernism”, being in this way a window into London life between 1880 and 1940, capturing magnificent and stunning interiors that eventually have been stripped out and lost forever.

145 Piccadilly the Night Nursery of the future Queen Elizabeth II, later destroyed by the Blitz. Photo 1927 © Historic England.

It also gives a historical foreshortening of the elite society of that time, where London was the richest city in the world, the capital of the largest empire in history, and a vital multicultural society. In fact, numerous of the interiors displayed in the book were commissioned by wealthy international clients, coming from India, America, Greece, France and Spain, alongside the originally British clients.

Therefore, ‘London Lost Interiors’ is a real historical testimony, providing a pictorial journey through the history of design, from the Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival and Rococo Revival, to the Trompe l’oeil the Art and Craft Movement, the Aesthetic Movement, the Modernism and the Art Deco.

London Lost Interiors’ by Steven Brindle, (Atlantic Publishing, 24th October). All images from the Historic England Archives

The book also highlights contemporary relevant themes, such as that of the role of women as tastemakers and creators of interiors, showcasing relevant personalities, such as Syrie Maugham, Betty Joel and Sibyl Colefax.

It can be said that ‘London Lost Interiors’, despite being primarily a photography book, is indeed much more than that. It is a piece of art and history, celebrating the beauty of historical aristocracy and elitè-class taste in interior design and architecture and, at the same time, giving a historical glimpse of the society living at that time and collecting forever testimony of historical buildings.

From grand buildings depicting the lavishness of English society to the streets of pain heartbreak and terror of the Mafia in Sicily, photography can capture every scene and every essence of it.

Letizia Battaglia is presenting a new photography exhibition in London, named ‘Life, Love and Death in Sicily’, giving a completely different perspective on photography, as she did during the whole course of her career.

Born in Palermo, Sicily, in 1935, Battaglia began her photographic career in the early 1970s. Her photography style consists in documenting the everyday life of Sicilian society, alongside the brutal reality of the Mafia and their victims in Sicily over the period between the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. 

Desperation of a son. (Disperazione di un figlio.) Palermo, 1976 © Courtesy Archivio Letizia Battaglia

Battaglia’s concept of photography is that of documenting and recording the daily terror of the Sicilian land, relentlessly pursuing organized crime. Battaglia is mainly photographed in black and white and she also captures the daily reality of women and children in their neighbourhoods and streets, both showing the wealth and lavishness and the poverty and misery of cities almost abandoned to their fate. Letizia Battaglia’s photography is varied, ranging from shots that capture the poverty of the street to others that showcase the upper-class lifestyle.

Near the Church of Santa Chiara. The killer’s game. (Vicino alla Chiesa di Santa Chiara. Il gioco del killer.) Palermo, 1982 © Courtesy Archivio Letizia Battaglia

The exhibition has been curated by Paolo Falcone, in collaboration with Letizia Battaglia Archive and Fondazione Falcone Per Le Arti and supported by the Fondazione Candido Speroni e Carla Fendi Speroni and The Italian Cultural Institute. ‘Letizia Battaglia: Life, Love and Death in Sicily’ will be on show at the London Photographers’ Gallery from the 9th October to the 23rd February.

Back to the UK for a final exploration, this time of the country of Wales, made by the award-winning photographer Marian Delyth. Born in Aberystwyth, after she pursued her studies at University in Cardiff, Newport and Birmingham, Delyth started her career as a professional photographer in an advertising studio.

Marian Delyth, Brenhines y Cwps (The Cooper’s Arms Queen), 1996

Simultaneously to her career as a freelance photographer, Delyth also worked as a teacher at the Coleg Ceredigion, and worked in a design department of the Welsh Books Council in Aberystwyth, dividing her time between commissioned work, personal projects and workshops.

This October, Ffotography presents ‘Darnau \ Fragments’, a major solo show of work by the Welsh photographer Marian Delyth. The exhibition takes place in the Ffoto Cymru: Wales International Festival of Photography and examines the profound impact and legacy of Delyth’s photographic journey over the past 50 years when she documented the life and culture of Wales. 

Marian Delyth, Surfers against Sewage protest, Aberystwyth, 2024

At the centre of her focus, there is activism, alongside social justice and peace campaigns across Wales and the UK. Drawing inspiration from the documentary style and tradition, Delyth’s work is oriented towards the observation and the construction of powerful narratives that spread messages such as that of change and resilience in advocating for language, social justice and equality.

“I have lived through a period when the technology of photography has gone through a process of revolution, but my focus has always remained on that simple process of observing the world through a viewfinder and merely ‘painting with light’ as Fox Talbot described the process two centuries ago.”

Marian Delyth

Through her curiosity, the Welsh photographer was able to capture peculiar and unique aspects of the society and culture of Wales, celebrating them and, for that, becoming a significant contributor to the artistic and visual identity of the country.

‘London: Lost Interiors’ by Steven Brindle with a foreword by The Duke of Wellington, Atlantic Publishing in association with Historic England is available from October 24th.

‘Life, Love and Death in Sicily’ will take place at the London Photographers’ Gallery between 9th October and 23rd February. Please visit Here thephotographersgallery.org.uk

“Darnau \ Fragments” open from October 3rd at The Old School Rooms in Cardiff, open to the public from Wednesday to Saturday. Please visit Here ffotogallery.org

If you enjoyed reading Beyond The Shot: The Hidden Value Of Art Photography then why not try Modern: The Science Of Photography and North: Identity, Photography, Fashion.

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