Camp of the 4th Dragoon Guards, convivial party French and English, 1855

Photograph by Roger Fenton (1819-1869), Crimean War, 1855.

Traditionally the British public had had to rely on written descriptions or artists' impressions for images of foreign wars, but Fenton's photographs were something of a revelation. They enabled a more accurate description of scenes than could be gleaned from paintings, prints and drawings alone.