A Matter of Focus closed on 18 January 2004. For details of our current exhibitions, take a look at our what’s on page.
An exhibition of work by The Linked Ring Brotherhood, a group of 19th century photographers who worked to establish photography as a serious art form.
As the debates surrounding photography as art intensified towards the end of the 19th century, a new kind of pictorial photography was emerging.
This exhibition looked at those changes through the work of two independent, yet complementary, groups who broke away from the established conventions defined by various camera clubs and societies of the 1890s: the Linked Ring Brotherhood and the American Photo-Secession movement. Not only did they provide alternative forums for the discussion of photography as art, they also provided new opportunities for the display and appreciation of their work.
Among the members of the Linked Ring Brotherhood were some of the most important photographers of the time: HP Robinson, George Davison, JC Annan, Edward Steichen and Alfred Steiglitz. Their experimental techniques paved the way for fine art photography.
