For my assignment over spring break I went to The J. Paul Getty Museum and fell in love with one of the exhibitions called A Royal Passion Queen Victoria and Photography. The picture I chose was of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria photographed in 1854 by Roger Fenton. As I walked around the Getty I saw many pieces of art and sculptures that were breathtaking but none of them really got my attention like this one did. I’ve always been fascinated with the elegance and grace the royals seem to have in pictures. The exhibition on Queen Victoria and the Royal family was quite interesting, because two years after Victoria became Queen photography was introduced. Queen Victoria became the first British monarch to have her life recorded by a camera.
During the 19th century is when the outbreak of photography sort of began. When I discovered that Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to have her entire life recorded it made me realize that it was a big moment in history. It sort of gives new art from to everything. Roger Fenton did several of the paintings at the exhibition and it was said that most of these pictures at that time were not available to the public it was just for the family.
The J. Paul Getty Museum
The museum always has several different works of arts and sculptures coming in and out. To allow everyone who can to be a part of the visual arts. It has European paintings and sculptures, several photographers. Every several months it allows for more artists to get there work shown and the opportunity to gain more knowledge on paintings. When I went I saw The Royal Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography exhibition. This exhibition was to show portraits of the royal family and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Being in the environment of the Getty gave me a better chance to understand all the paintings and what surrounded it. There were only a few pictures of the Queen and the Prince. In being there I read that Prince Albert had died and that’s why several other pictures of Queen Victoria were so sad and she always had a picture or something to remember Albert by in the rest of her pictures. I could also tell by the way the color of her dresses in black she was mourning. The environment that I was in allowed me to get a different essence of the paintings. If I had seen them through a computer I never would have known why the photographer did that or noticed that Prince Albert was always remembered in pictures with Queen Victoria. The people around me weren’t there because they were forced, everyone there appreciated art and the environment of being around adults gave me more off a mature perspective.
The Surroundings
The painting that I chose was the main picture of exhibition. It was surrounded by several other pictures and photo albums of the royal family and Queen Victoria. So it all made me feel as if I were walking through time. The whole entire exhibition helped me capture the essence of the painting I chose. The lighting in some rooms was a bit dim but it was only to conserve the paintings. Seeing the painting in person made me really take notice of the small details rather than being over a computer screen. What I thought was interesting was that the museum did not allow for photography yet its was all over the pamphlets and online. Walking down the street I saw the main picture on a light pole showing the exhibition. So it was all a bit hypocritical if you ask me. All in all the surrounding environment of the picture was beautiful, the lighting I understood and all of the photographers who photographed the royal family all had different perspectives and camera angles so it was all very beautiful.
The Aura
Seeing this picture had me a bit confused at first. I had to keep coming back to it in order to realize the big picture. In the photograph it seems as if Queen Victoria doesn’t love Prince Albert at all, but the rest of photographs show how much she mourned over his death and in fact she truly did love him. Fenton was the first war photographer which I found quite interesting because I never would have known without a little bit of research first. Looking at the picture I never would have known that someone who was out on the battlefield taking pictures of deceased people and the poverty of some countries. From going to the Queen herself and photographing her and all of its elegance. Now I begin to understand what John Berger was trying to say, seeing a painting or picture through the internet or seeing the replica of it somewhere else, is never the same as seeing the original. No one can ever replicate every single detail of it and even if they did it’s the what makes the paintings originality that makes it unique and worth looking at.
The J. Paul Getty Museum
The museum always has several different works of arts and sculptures coming in and out. To allow everyone who can to be a part of the visual arts. It has European paintings and sculptures, several photographers. Every several months it allows for more artists to get there work shown and the opportunity to gain more knowledge on paintings. When I went I saw The Royal Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography exhibition. This exhibition was to show portraits of the royal family and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Being in the environment of the Getty gave me a better chance to understand all the paintings and what surrounded it. There were only a few pictures of the Queen and the Prince. In being there I read that Prince Albert had died and that’s why several other pictures of Queen Victoria were so sad and she always had a picture or something to remember Albert by in the rest of her pictures. I could also tell by the way the color of her dresses in black she was mourning. The environment that I was in allowed me to get a different essence of the paintings. If I had seen them through a computer I never would have known why the photographer did that or noticed that Prince Albert was always remembered in pictures with Queen Victoria. The people around me weren’t there because they were forced, everyone there appreciated art and the environment of being around adults gave me more off a mature perspective.
The Surroundings
The painting that I chose was the main picture of exhibition. It was surrounded by several other pictures and photo albums of the royal family and Queen Victoria. So it all made me feel as if I were walking through time. The whole entire exhibition helped me capture the essence of the painting I chose. The lighting in some rooms was a bit dim but it was only to conserve the paintings. Seeing the painting in person made me really take notice of the small details rather than being over a computer screen. What I thought was interesting was that the museum did not allow for photography yet its was all over the pamphlets and online. Walking down the street I saw the main picture on a light pole showing the exhibition. So it was all a bit hypocritical if you ask me. All in all the surrounding environment of the picture was beautiful, the lighting I understood and all of the photographers who photographed the royal family all had different perspectives and camera angles so it was all very beautiful.
The Aura
Seeing this picture had me a bit confused at first. I had to keep coming back to it in order to realize the big picture. In the photograph it seems as if Queen Victoria doesn’t love Prince Albert at all, but the rest of photographs show how much she mourned over his death and in fact she truly did love him. Fenton was the first war photographer which I found quite interesting because I never would have known without a little bit of research first. Looking at the picture I never would have known that someone who was out on the battlefield taking pictures of deceased people and the poverty of some countries. From going to the Queen herself and photographing her and all of its elegance. Now I begin to understand what John Berger was trying to say, seeing a painting or picture through the internet or seeing the replica of it somewhere else, is never the same as seeing the original. No one can ever replicate every single detail of it and even if they did it’s the what makes the paintings originality that makes it unique and worth looking at.
Celeste Restrepo I am a freshman at California State University Northridge, majoring in Biology. I hope to become a surgeon some day.