42 Seconds Under Ground: The Photography of Lewis Carroll
Published May 27, 2004
Review of two books on Lewis Carroll, by Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti
Lewis Carroll, Photographer The Princeton University Library Albums by Roger Taylor and Edward Wakeling (Princeton University Press
Dreaming in Pictures: the Photography of Lewis Carroll By Douglas R. Nickel Yale University Press,
When his mother's brother, Skeffington Lutwidge, first introduced Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (more popularly known as Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, originally Alice's Adventures Underground to photography in 1856, it was considered no more than "a fashionable pastime that allowed gentlemen to demonstrate their interest in technology, chemistry, and optics, as well as to reveal their artistic tendencies." (11, Princeton).
More than his uncle, it was Reginald Southey, Dodgson's friend at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a "master and tutor," a mathematics don, who really got Dodgson started, showing him his own work (much admired by Dodgson), and mixing his first batch of developing chemicals. It was also Southey who accompanied Dodgson to the Deanery "to try to take a photograph" of the Liddell family, as the fledgling photographer noted in his diary on April 25, 1856. The following year, Dodgson went with his friend to London where he bought a very fine and expensive rosewood camera, beginning a pastime that would bring him some of the greatest joys and pains of Dodgson's life.
Ever conscious of social standing and stature, Dodgson soon realized that the camera could be used in myriad ways, one of which was as an entrée to other Oxford dons, celebrities, admired poets (such as Tennyson, Arthur Hughes, and Rossetti), and royalty who often visited the esteemed Oxford campus. Born into a family that was considered of "good social standing," Dodgson had aspirations toward society's higher strata, and he "used photography to negotiate from one level to another." (viii, Princeton). Still, if this had been all there was to it, Dodgson's photographs would not have the resonance they have today. While he initially may have taken to photography as a fashionable pastime or social calling card, the photographs themselves give evidence of deeper desires.
Dodgson first used his new camera to gain introduction to the respected Oxford dean Harry Liddell, a progressive man who "would have taken an interest in an innovation like photography." (15, Dreaming)
But his priorities soon changed, and before long his lens focused not on the dean but on his young daughters, particularly little Alice. Soon after, at the age of five, Alice became the subject of several photographic studies, one of which, Alice Liddell as "The Beggar-Maid", is so widely known, that it is now etched into the collective consciousness. So began a relationship that would be forever memorialized - not only in pictures, of course, but also in words.
It was on July 4, 1862, that the Reverend Dodgson, his friend Robinson Duckworth, and the Liddell sisters took to a boat on the river Isis at Oxford and rowed past the scented rushes to the town of Guildford. As they picnicked beneath the shade of a tree on the banks of the river, Dodgson began telling the story of "Alice's Adventures Underground," which three years later would be published as Alice in Wonderland.
- 42 Seconds Under Ground: The Photography of Lewis Carroll
- Published: May 27, 2004
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- Section: Books
- Writer: Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti
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agreed. it is sad. I don't judge him that way myself, and i hope that is clear in the piece. It would indeed be sad if he were judged so. I'd like to think that as biographers, we really do our research before condemning anyone to something as serious as that... Let's hope so.
Be well
s.r.p.
exceptional and infomative - I love your theory on stopping time
I also have found Lewis Carroll's writings exceptional.
I wasn't aware of his suffering from epilepsy and stuttered. I think this goes a long way to explaining his love of photography and his preference for the company of children.
I also prefer not to think of him as a creepy pedophile although there are some more modern "art photographers" that I would consider coming under that category.
Thanks for the book reviews.
This is a fascinating essay, especially the part about the epilepsy (which I'd never heard of).
It's interesting to contemplate how our view of photographs differ from other generations. The generational difference is seen today by how nonchalantly teenagers take photos of themselves and friends without inhibition (and how in contrast, a middle aged man or woman grumpily declines).
The novelty of the device in Dodgson's time probably ensured that neither parents nor children thought too hard about issues of exploitation. It also ensured that poses were more spontaneous (contrast this with Americans who see glamour shots of all kinds of models everyday and everywhere).
Aside from the pseudo-prurience of these photos, it would be interesting to view these photos as indicating what people of that time period considered as tableux. In that time, the cliches were cherubs; in the time of playboy pinups, the cliches were water hoses and horses and automobiles. Future historians will find the setups more fascinating that the models themselves.
a pity there is no posting of his pictures
i can organize some pics online for you to look at. give me a few days and i'll post the link and you can go to it. be sure to check back. i'll try and get it done before the end of the day on monday and will post the link back here.
be well,
sadi
here is the link on my site to Dodgson's photographs. i've uploaded quite a good sample, but no doubt, this will increase over time....
http://www.tantmieux.squarespace.com/display/ShowGallery?moduleId=68673&galleryId=8877
cut and paste that into your browser, OR,
go to
www.tantmieux.squarespace.com and go to IMAGES and then select the gallery marked Lewis Carroll nee Charles Dodgson.
Hope this helps and good luck...
Cheers,
Sadi
Excellent work, enjoyed exploring the essay.
Interestingly, Dodgson's epilepsy is, of course, a matter of some dispute. The fact that he tended towards neologisms, clang assosications and listmaking, indicates bipolar disorder rather than/in addition to temporal absence epilepsy.
While looking up Dodgson's epilepsy, I happened across this interesting medical diagnosis, termed Alice In Wonderland Syndrome.
yes, i've heard of alice in wonderland syndrome. i believe it's called that becaus eof the macropsia and micropsia, that are common to many temporal lobe seizures. the sense of time, things growing and shrinking, even the headaches, as you noted, the listmaking, the compulsive hypergraphia, etc etc. are all signs.
Dodgson WAS officially diagnosed in his life several times as someone with temporal lobe epilepsy and had several grand mal seizures that are well-documented, themost famous of them being the one at the chapel at Christ Church where he was teaching. He was on several medications for seizures though none of them agreeable. He also had the classic migraine symptoms that often accompany TLE and took Dilaudid and other opiates for this.
His friend Tennyson was also diagnosed with epilepsy and took treatment for it, though he was very private about it.
this is understandable; at the time, epileptics were considered 'insane' or 'mad' and were often confined to asylums. sad, when i know that in other cultures, epileptics are often revered as shamans and medicine men (inuit and native american cultures often do this).
What would be best would be for those with epilepsy to be treated just like everyone else, or for society to recognize the many good qualities that often accompany TLE and the many great men and women who have been the best leaders, artists, writers, etc. who all had well-documented cases - a few, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Van Gogh, Napoleon, Julius Ceasar, Alexander the Great, Alfred Nobel, Socrates, Aristotle, Pythagorus, Lewis Carroll (of course), Tennyson, as noted, and on and on... i'm compiling a master list of document cases only that i hope to soon have on my site.
Be well, and thanks for reading...
Sadi
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Charles Dodgeson is a phenomenal genius. I regard the Alice books as my favorite ever written, and I have a literature degree to back that up. It's unfortunate that history will probably judge him as a creepy pedophile. He was a mathmatic genius, and several of the passages in the second book (through the looking glass) are actually working puzzles.
The first piece of music I wrote I put to Charles Dodgeson words (I think it was Shadowland).
take care,
lono