Fear
ca. 1860
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Image: 7 15/16 × 6 1/16 in. (20.2 × 15.4 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.1132
Tags
Art Historical Context
Henry Peach Robinson's *Fear* (ca. 1860) is a poignant early example of pictorial photography, where the medium was elevated from mere documentation to fine art. Robinson, a British pioneer, captured a woman's intense expression of terror in this albumen silver print, a process popular in the 1850s–70s for its warm tones and fine detail achieved by coating paper with egg whites and silver salts. Measuring just 7 15/16 × 6 1/16 inches, the intimate scale draws viewers into the emotional drama, evoking Victorian themes of vulnerability and human emotion. Robinson's innovative technique—often co...