CAPTIVE SUBJECTS: ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE LONDON ZOO, 1828-1914

Abstract

The London Zoo was founded in 1828 and quickly became London’s premier site for viewing non-indigenous animals. Not long after, in 1839, photography emerged and evolved alongside the Zoo. While the London Zoo had already established itself as being cooperative with artists working in traditional media (e.g. painting, printmaking, sculpture), photography played a limited role in this practice until the late nineteenth century. This thesis examines the Zoo as a locus of artistic production and witness to a gradual transition in primacy from traditional media to photography. I discuss the major photographers working in this genre and their methodologies, arguing that the challenging conditions of zoo photography drove innovation, acting as a stimulus for emerging photographic technologies. I provide context for the rise of photography with discussion of artists working in zoological illustration and animal painting. When the Zoo began officially mobilizing photography in the early twentieth century, I argue that the institution took advantage of the ostensible objectivity of the medium to enhance its reputation and perhaps obscure failures in animal husbandry.