Clifford: A Pioneer Photographer in Spain

The Early Visual Media Lab and CICANT are pleased to announce the upcoming conference of the visiting researcher Rachel Bullough Ainscough (Universidad San Pablo CEU, Madrid) on Charles Clifford, one the most renowned pioneer photographers in Spain.

Clifford: a pioneer photographer in Spain

A mysterious and colourful figure, the British photographer Charles Clifford (1819-1863) is universally recognised as one of the greatest photographers in Spain in the nineteenth century. From his curious arrival in Madrid in 1850 to his untimely death in 1863, Clifford worked tirelessly to portray a country and its people to the best of his ability. Never afraid to stretch the boundaries of the new photographic medium in order to satisfy his own creative needs, he fulfilled the desire of his clients in Spain to have a visual record of their times and that of his clients abroad; to see as much of the country (known and unknown) as possible, at a time when mass tourism was still a thing of the future and Spain continued to enjoy the romantic image of a country off the beaten track, somewhere between the Pyrenees and Africa.

At the forefront of new photographic processes and techniques acquired during his frequent trips to London and Paris, Clifford used his studio in Madrid to teach photography to all those interested, a task he continued during his trips around Spain. His clients included the aristocracy, the government and the Royal Houses of Spain and Great Britain which both have substantial collections of his work.  Embracing all the photographic genres from portraiture to civil works, Clifford’s unique image of Spain reconciles in perfect harmony the ancient past of the country with the modernization and progress of the 1850's.