Alexander Lamont Henderson. 1904 Holiday Snaps

Alexander Lamont Henderson. 1904 Holiday Snaps
12.12.2018 - 04.05.2019

Alexander Lamont Henderson (1838-1907) was a photographer who was distinguished for his services by Queen Victoria of Britain and a member of the Royal Photographic Society. The information related to his life and work is poor as his "royal" images were destroyed after the death of Queen Victoria and his "commercial" work which was donated to the library of the London Guildhall Museum in 1907 was destroyed in 1940's bombing. A set of what he himself called "Holiday snaps" could possibly be the only part of his work that is saved nowadays. It consists of photographs taken between 1884 and 1906 during his trips in Mediterranean countries.

The exhibition will present for the first time the photographs he took in Greece in 1904. His lens turns away from the iconographic stereotypes of the time and depicts scenes from everyday life in the city with the vendors being the protagonists. The images taken inside the royal palaces in Athens and Tatoi are also of great interest.

The selection of themes will be based on 86 exemplary glass plates (diapositives) which were recently kindly donated to the Benaki Museum Photographic Archives.