Monday 1 December 2008

Point and click?

It is 150 years since the death of Robert Howlett - the young photographer who took this iconic image of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Robert Howlett died - in December 1858 - from a fever, most likely caused by exposure to the poisonous photographic chemicals that he used.

Intrigued by how the Brunel photograph was created, photojournalist David White set out - using non toxic methods - to recreate some of Howlett's images.

With a specially-made camera, he travelled across south and west England to view Brunel's extensive legacy. Here is his story.

see the video at http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7753000/7753202.stm

just makes you feel lucky to be able to pick up a relatively lightweight camera, point, click and hey presto!

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