Photography in Thomas Hardy’s “A Laodicean” and the Victorian Period

In Thomas Hardy’s A Laodicean, Mr. Dare creates a false image of Somerset through trick photography:

“It was a portrait of Somerset; but by a device known in photography the operator, through contriving to produce what seemed to be a perfect likeness, had given it the distorted features and wild attitude of a man advanced in intoxication” (Hardy 49).

In Victorian times, photographs were replacing paintings because they could be produced faster and cheaper while also providing a more realistic copy of the image being replicated. As a result, the fact that Mr. Dare uses a photograph to show such a degrading view of Somerset, makes the image much more difficult to reject as false. Dare’s ability to manipulate the image of Somerset supports the belief many Victorians held during the rise of photography as a sinister process (Leggat).

A Laodicean was written in 1881, and mass photography began circulating in 1888. However, Niepce captured the first photograph (that still exists) in 1827. This photograph had an eight-hour exposure time, where as now pictures can be captured and displayed within seconds. In 1881, portraits became prominent throughout society because they were finally affordable (Monge).

The first photograph taken that still exists
from: http://www.tropinature.com/photohist/photohist01.html

Victorians would manipulate images in many ways through trick photography. Some techniques used were changes in perspective of size, spirit photography, replicating a person in a single photograph, and headless photographs (Barribeau). In 2013, we now have programs such as Photoshop to take photo manipulation even further, but at the time, the ability to manipulate images was a remarkable advancement in technology.

Trick photography: Headless Photograph
from: http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/13-headless-victorian-photographs

Trick Photography: Spiritual Photograph
from: http://nationalmediamuseumblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/photography-a-z-ghosts-spirit-photography/

Another bizarre Victorian practice involving photography was taking pictures of the deceased in poses as if they were still alive. This is called post mortem photography. Photographs provided a more realistic image to remember loved ones. Family members would sometimes pose with their deceased loved one, and the loved one would either be portrayed as sleeping or awake. To give the illusion of being awake, their eyes would either be propped open or they would have pupils painted on their eyelids. In addition, sometimes stands would be used to hold the deceased person’s body up as though they were standing (Admin).

Post Mortem Photography: Stands used to hold deceased bodies up
from: http://www.technocrazed.com/the-most-weird-tradition-of-victorian-era-post-mortem-photography-gallery

Ultimately, even though photography was being used to portray realism that paintings were not fully able to accomplish, it also was turning into a tool of deception and illusion. Thomas Hardy’s A Laodicean seems to highlight this caution to readers, through the depiction of older ways of living being replaced with new technological advancements.

Works Cited:

Admin. “The Most Weird Tradition of Victorian Era: Post Mortem Photography”. Techno Crazed. Web. 20
Oct. 2013.
Barribeau, Tim. 1987 Book of Magic Shows: The Wonders of Victorian Trick Photography. 18 April 2013.
Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
Hardy, Thomas. A Laodicean. Vol. 3. London: William Clowes and Sons, 1881. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
Leggat, Robert. A History of Photography. 1995. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
Monge, Julian. “History of Photography”. Tropinature.Costa Rica: State Distance Education
University,n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.

Representation versus Reality in Thomas Hardy’s “A Laodicean” and in 21st Century Media

       A common theme in Thomas Hardy’s A Laodicean is the difference between representation and reality. For example, photographs, architecture, paintings, and sketches are all simply representations of an ideal form. The goal of Victorian new media in the text is essentially used to capture these ideal forms into permanence and stasis. However, Somerset recognizes that “ideal perfection was never achieved…and never would be” (Hardy 9). New media can only capture representations of ideal forms and these representations are being circulated throughout society. One must then wonder, what is the effect of one’s interaction with these representations?

       To understand this concept of representations versus reality more clearly, our class compared the theme to Plato’s Allegory Of The Cave. In Plato’s allegory, prisoners are chained up in a cave and all they can see are shadows on the wall, but since this is all they have ever known, they perceive them to be reality. A 21^st century example of this allegory is the influence of media on society. To compare, the media in general represents the cave, the media’s messages represent the shadows, and members of society represent the prisoners. The media is constantly posting images for society to see, and the large amount of content has made it difficult for members of society to decide what to believe (Manera 1). In a sense, the messages media send us have become so common that, without even questioning their validity, we accept them as truth. For example, we watch the news to determine what is going on in the world, but these are only stories and representations of what is actually occurring. News broadcasters bend the news to serve as entertainment and have the power to control what is said and what is not said. As a result, broadcasters are using representations to control our thoughts and behaviour.

       Similarily, in A Laodicean, there is a sense of hostility and sadness in the loss of authenticity as it is being replaced with representations from new media. Somerset reflects that it “were as if a stray hour from the 19^th century had wandered like a butterfly into the 13^th and lost itself there” (Hardy 71). Examples of modern intrusion in the castle are the telegraph, photography, the railway, and the desire to restore the castle using Greek styles of architecture. It seems like by adding these forms of new media, the castle is becoming counterfeit. To explain further, the castle seems to be counterfeit because the castle is straying even further from its ideal form.

       Ultimately, when comparing the effect of representations in A Laodicean and in 21^st century media, we see that representations in both cases control peoples’ perceptions of the world. It is impossible to avoid perceiving the world through representation, however, the fact that people are now using multiple representations of representations (such as a picture on a webpage being viewed on a smartphone) to interpret the world is concerning because we are being drawn further from the ideal truth.

 

Sources:

 

Hardy, Thomas. A Laodicean. London: William Clowes and Sons, 1881. Web. 12

            October 2013.

Manera, Anne. The “Allegory of the Cave’s” Influence on 21st Century Media. 2007.

            Web. 11 October 2013.

Picture source:

http://hellaheaven-ana.blogspot.ca/2011/03/platos-allegory-of-cave.html