The old order and the new Book

The definitive study of the work of the influential nineteenth-century photographer, physician and naturalist. Peter Henry Emerson's exquisite photographs celebrate the natural world while observing the disappearance of rural life. This book features Emerson's images of the Norfolk Broads and waterways, his photographs capturing people on holidays and the local inhabitants. This exhaustive study of Emerson's work draws on the major collection of the Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, in Bradford, England, as well as many never before published images from the National Archives in Kew. Featuring a selection of 65 plates, as well as thumbnails of the artist's published prints, the book also includes essays by photographic historians discussing Emerson's innovative focus and printing techniques and offering a reinterpretation of his most iconic image, Gathering Water Lilies. A biography of Emerson is provided by the artist's great grandson. John Taylor is a freelance curator who writes frequently on photography.