1219
is recognised only as “one of the early promoters of the
Photographic Society.”
Fenton’s enthusiasm for such an organisation was
fuelled after he had become directly involved with
members of the Société héliographique française dur-
ing a visit to Paris in late autumn 1851—meeting with
Gustave le Gray and others—and had been impressed
both by the society itself, and its pioneering publication
la Lumière. He published an account of his visit in The
Chemist, February, 1852, making a particular point of
praising the vision of the French in establishing their
society—and using the readership of the journal as a
conduit for promoting the idea more widely in Britain. In
the following issue, March 1852, he published his “Pro-
posal for the formation of a Photographical Society.”
Kamlish postulates that Claudet—who had by 1852
become a near neighbour of Fenton’s with a home in
Gloucester Road—may have passed his proposals to
Fenton in the hope that Fenton would be better able to
promote them. That would be at odds with the relative
photographic status of the two men at that time—Fen-
ton a newcomer to the medium, and Claudet already
recognised as one of the major players with ten years
experience, a thriving London business, several impor-
tant published papers on the science of photography,
and a number of patents to his name. In any event, in
his address to the inaugural meeting of the society in
spring 1853, he refl ected on the original ideas which
had been mooted “in the winter of 1851–52.”
Whatever the circumstances, Fenton’s published
proposal was pivotal, and was doubtless translated into
a practical proposition during the preparations for the
Society of Arts exhibition. In it he set out many of the
tenets that drove the society for the following century
and a half—many of them also contained within the
Claudet document of a year earlier. Only a few of his
proposals proved short-lived.
As the object proposed is not only to form a pleasant and
convenient photographic club, but a society that shall be
as advantageous for the art as is the Geographical Society
to the advancement of knowledge in its department, it fol-
lows necessarily that it shall include amongst its members
men of all ranks of life; that while men of eminence, from
their fortune, social position, or scientifi c reputation, will
be welcomed, no photographer of respectability in his
particular sphere of life will be rejected.
The society, then, will consist of those eminent in the
study of natural philosophy, of opticians, chemists, artists,
and practical photographers, professional and amateur. It
will admit both town and country members.
Despite that proviso, and although the name adopted
was The Photographic Society, it was often referred to
as The Photographic Society of London refl ecting the
predominantly metropolitan make-up of its founding
membership.
Like Claudet, Fenton believed the society should have‘appropriate premises fi tted with laboratory, glass operat-
ing room, and salon in which to hold its meetings. It would
be some considerable time before that was achieved, the
ordinary meetings throughout the early years being held
at The Society of Arts.
Again, like Claudet, Fenton also proposed the regular
publication of the society’s proceedings, and the estab-
lishment of a library, but while Claudet proposed the
establishment of a Permanent Collection and a Museum
of Photography, Fenton’s paper proposed an annual
album of members’ work. Despite annual albums be-
ing produced in the early years, it was Claudet’s idea
for a permanent collection which endured and which
grew into the huge world-class RPS Collection which
is now housed in Bradford at the National Museum of
Photography Film & Television.
At about the time the proposal appeared in The Chem-
ist in March 1852, Fenton and others met and formed
a Provisional Committee to drive the idea of a society
forward. They met frequently throughout the spring
and autumn, and in an unusual choice of words, these
meetings were reported as being held “with a view of
organising a Society of those to whom such a re-union
would be acceptable.” Fenton became honorary sec-
retary of the provisional committee, and his role was
pivotal in spreading news of the new initiative as widely
as possible. Throughout that period he was also actively
involved in the proposed exhibition at the Society of
Arts, the two parallel engagements giving him regular
access to like thinkers.
The provisional committee, which had met regularly
at the offi ces of the Art Union journal in the spring,
suspended its activities in the summer, as one of the
stumbling blocks in the formation of the society, which
they had to consider and deal with, was the existence
of William Henry Fox Talbot’s calotype patent—the
restrictions it placed on the development of photog-
raphy was seen as incompatible with an independent
photographic society. After representations by Sir
Charles Eastlake and Lord Rosse, Talbot’s agreement
was reached to relax the patent, at least for amateur
users, and progress towards the establishment of the
society was restarted with a further series of meetings
in autumn 1852.
The Inaugural Meeting of the new Society was held
on January 20th 1853 at the Society of Arts—a few days
before the exhibition closed—with Sir Charles Eastlake
in the Chair, who opened his address by confi rming that
the chairmanship had initially been offered to Talbot,
but that the inventor had declined.
The inaugural Council of the new society included,
amongst others, such luminaries as Charles Wheatstone,
Sir William Newton, Hugh Welch Diamond, Fenton as
Secretary, Peter le Neve Foster, Peter Fry, Robert Hunt,
John Dillwyn Llewelyn (whose name was recorded