'The Diversity of Expression and the Wondrous Power of the Art of Photography' in the Albums of Richard Cockle Lucas

摘要

From 1859 to 1878 the British sculptor Richard Cockle Lucas assembled at least sixteen albums containing photographs of himself in numerous guises, ranging from Shakespearean roles to embodiments of specific emotions. Lucas utilised the practice of dressing up in front of the camera in conjunction with the album format as an ongoing means of experimenting with photography's capacity to convey human expression, and as an extension of his concerns as a sculptor. Lucas's albums, which also include photographs of his work in sculpture, represent the first sustained pursuit of photographic self-depiction in such a wide range of roles. Read in conjunction with Lucas's own writings on expression in photography and sculpture, the albums reveal how Lucas viewed photographic self-portraiture as a form of 'living sculpture' to be enacted before the camera.