Oxford University Press
“Darwin’s Camera: Art and Photography in the Theory of Evolution,” by Phillip Prodger. Oxford University Press. $39.95 Hardcover.
Photo curator's book sees Darwin's work through a different lens
By Margaret Smith/msmith@cnc.com
GateHouse News Service
Posted Dec 31, 2009 @ 12:39 PM
Salem, Mass. —
Why is this man smiling?
Phillip Prodger, photography curator at Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, has published a book exploring Charles Darwin’s use of photography in his research on the origins and commonality of life.
Prodger’s new book, “Darwin’s Camera: Art and Photography in The Theory of Evolution,” explores how Darwin collaborated with photographer Oscar Rejlander, to document traits such as emotions to gain better understanding of the relationship of human beings to other living creatures.
With images of men, women and children showing joy, grief, anger and wonderment in Darwin’s compilation, “Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals,” Prodger argues that the collaboration between Darwin and Rejlander changed attitudes towards photography from a stiff and formal affair to a way to explore a subject’s personality.
Prodger talks about his quest to understand Darwin and his times as seen through the lens of the past.
Q. How did the idea for this book come about?
A. As an undergrad, I took a photography studio class. The professor liked to use as an example a photo Oscar Rejlander did for Darwin. No one had written about this before, so I thought this was a perfect opportunity. It is something I have been working on for at least 15 years. It is an idea that never let go of me — how the way a great scientist used photography changed expectations of how photos are used.
Q. Please explain more about the role photography played in Darwin’s work.
A. Darwin was a collector. When he was on the voyage of the Beagle, he did a lot of collecting of birds. Later, he got interested in emotional expression. You can’t easily collect that, so he had to find a way. His way was through photography.
Q. Why was emotional expression important for him to document?
A. He was really interested during this time in muscle movement in the face. The photos allowed him to pick out muscle movement. This was interesting to him because he believed emotional expression came from animal emotions. It was as controversial as he ever got — the idea that human expression was derived from animals. He was really getting at questions such as what does it mean to be alive, and what does it mean to be sentient.
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