The Crimean War in the Photographs of James Robertson and Felice Beato

Englishman Roger Fenton was not the only one who photographed the Crimean War. On September 8, 1855, a coalition of British, French and Turkish troops captured Aqyar (Sevastopol), and destroyed many strategically important buildings in the city. Two photographers were invited to capture the final stage of the war – Englishman James Robertson and British photographer of Italian origin Felice Beato, who at that time owned a successful photo studio in Constantinople (Istanbul). Their photographs were very different in spirit from Fenton’s – instead of the heroism of soldiers, their works were more often devoted to destruction and death.