View of the Sacred Tank in the Great Pagoda

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View of the Sacred Tank in the Great Pagoda

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Linnaeus Tripe (British, Devonport (Plymouth Dock) 1822–1902 Devonport)

The albumen silver print is a photographic printing process that was widely used in the 19th century. It involves coating paper support with a mixture of egg whites and salt, which creates a glossy surface to hold light-sensitive silver salts. The paper is then sensitized in a solution of silver nitrate, and exposed in a camera or under a negative. After exposure, the print is developed in a solution of gallic acid and silver nitrate, which reduces the silver salts to metallic silver and creates the final image. The albumen print process was widely used for commercial and fine art photography in the 19th century and produced high-quality, detailed images with a distinctive glossy finish.

With the invention of photography, the eighteenth-century British passion for recording exotic lands and studies of the peoples in India was given new impetus. The earliest photography on the continent dates from 1840 in Calcutta, the political center of British India. The technology for photography arrived in India quickly became popular among the local rulers-many of whom employed photographers at their courts-as well as the British who had come to make their fortunes in the colony. For both populations, the new medium replaced painting as the method for recording the local landscape, architecture, people, and important events.

Linnaeus Tripe was a British photographer known for his pioneering work in the field of photography. He was born in Devonport, England on 14 April 1822. The son of a naval officer, Tripe spent much of his childhood moving around the world with his family. In 1838, Tripe joined the army of the East India Company as a clerk and was stationed in India for the next 24 years. During his time in India, he developed an interest in photography and began to experiment with the medium. In 1854 he was appointed the official photographer for a British mission to Burma (now Myanmar). Tripe's photographs of Burma are considered some of the earliest and finest examples of architectural and landscape photography. Using large-format cameras, he produced detailed, carefully composed images that captured the intricate details of the country's temples and pagodas. After returning to England in 1857, Tripe continued to work as a photographer but struggled to make a living from his art. He eventually gave up photography and worked as a civil servant until he retired in 1895. Tripe's photographs were largely forgotten until the 1980s, when they were rediscovered and recognised for their historical and artistic importance. Today his work is held in high esteem by collectors and museums around the world. Linnaeus Tripe died on 2 October 1902 in Devonport, England, at the age of 80.

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Date

1858
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Source

Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

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linnaeus tripe
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