Getty Museum
Self-Portrait in Zouave Uniform
Creator
Roger FentonPhotographer · 1819–1869
All works by this person →After studying law in London, Roger Fenton trained as a painter in London and Paris. He exhibited his paintings and helped found a drawing school that gave evening instruction to working men in London. Active in the arts, Fenton corresponded with French photographers Gustave Le Gray and Henri Le Secq, which may have led him to pursue photography. Fenton's photographic career was brilliant yet brie
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 1855
- Medium
- Albumen silver print
- Culture
- English
- Department
- Photographs
- Institution
- Getty Museum
As part of his Crimean series, Roger Fenton photographed himself dressed in a Zouave uniform and holding a rifle. The Zouaves were French soldiers in a multinational allied army who fought in the Crimean War, where Fenton photographed them. The allied troops were made up of numerous ethnic groups. The Zouaves were exceptional not only for their colorfully exotic Algerian-derived uniforms, but also for their superior skill in battle. Fenton was given the uniform by a French general. Titling the image as though it were a photograph of an actual Zouave soldier but using himself as a model, Fenton forgoes accurate ethnic representation in favor of the romanticized play-acting in which he occasionally indulged.
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