Abstract
This chapter examines the role of photography within British politics, from the first photograph of a British prime minister in office to the dramatic events of the 2016 EU referendum. With reference to 20 historic photographs taken over the last 160 years, we decipher just how photography has changed the political landscape through the capturing of unique moments that other mediums fail to convey, with a particular focus on premiership. We discuss how the artistic nature of photography, one which tells us more about the subject than the artist, vastly enhances our visual understanding of the past and can teach us more about the candid realities of political history than previous mediums. Impacts of major photographical developments on politics, from the advent of pictorial journalism to colour printing to social media, are also explored apropos of the use of photography by press and politicians to shape political narratives, and the impact it can have on public perception of events.
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Notes
- 1.
These levels are discussed in Seldon 1988.
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Seldon, S.A., Newell, R. (2021). Photography in British Political History. In: Rhodes, R., Hodgett, S. (eds) What Political Science Can Learn from the Humanities . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51697-0_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51697-0_7
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