Alvin Langdon Coburn’s ethereal photographs of London

From the 1880s to 1910s, pictorialism dominated photography. This movement emphasised the aesthetic value of photographs. It considered photography as an artform rather than just a record of reality. Pictorial photographers used alternative compositions, soft focus techniques and dark, shadowy tones to create a strong sense of atmosphere.

Coburn shot this image of St Paul’s Cathedral rising above Blackfriars Bridge from an unusual viewpoint, almost at river level. He’s lowered the contrast on the image, making it dark and shadowy, while also capturing the light playing on the river.

This night photograph of Leicester Square also represents Coburn’s pictorial style. He’s incorporated reflections in the wet pavement and deep shadows. Any sharp lines have been blurred by smoke, in keeping with the foggy aesthetic of this heavily industrialised city.

Coburn lived between America and Britain for many years, and spent much of this time in London. In 1909 he bought a four-storey house overlooking the River Thames by Hammersmith Bridge. He set up two printing presses, a studio and a darkroom there. Around then, he also published London in 1909 using a printing process called photogravure, which he learned in London.

Photogravure is a technique that sits somewhere between traditional printmaking and photography. An image is photographically transferred and then etched onto a copper plate. The plate is then inked up and sent through a press, like an engraving. Photogravure was popular with pictorialists like Coburn as it produced high-quality prints with soft, rich tones.

Coburn was also influenced by impressionism, a movement developed by painters like Claude Monet in the late 1800s. Impressionist artists emphasised light and shadow and used short, broken brushstrokes to create a sense of movement. You can see this reflected in this fuzzy, high-contrast view of Wapping. It resembles Monet’s paintings of the Thames completed just a few years earlier.