Roger Fenton's photographic van, 1855

Photograph, Crimean War (1854-1856), 1855.

Pioneering photographers like Fenton had to travel with cumbersome wooden cameras, lenses, tripods, boxes of glass plates, numerous bottles of chemical solutions for coating, developing and fixing the glass plates, basins in which the plates were immersed, and a large developing tent. When personal items and food were added to this list a travelling van became a necessity. The seated figure is Marcus Sparling, Fenton's photographic assistant, during his Crimean expedition.