Gathering Water-Lilies from Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads (London, 1886)
Peter Henry Emerson
British, born Cuba. 1856–1936
T. F. Goodall
British
c. 1885
A platinum print photograph of two people in a small rowboat gathering water‑lilies on the Norfolk Broads, made by Emerson to present rural life with the quiet, painterly truth he believed photography could achieve.
You notice the soft, even light and rich tonal range—the lily pads like pale stepping‑stones, the boat’s dark form and reflected shadow, the woman leaning to touch a bloom, all set against a hush of reeds at the water’s edge.
A key example of pictorialist photography, this work used platinum printing and composed, painterly imagery to argue that photography could express mood and dignity and thus belong alongside traditional fine art.
Medium
Platinum print
Dimensions
7 7/8 × 11 7/16" (20 × 29 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of William A. Grigsby
Accession
543.1967.9
Palette
Exhibitions
