Valley of the Shadow of Death,

1855

Fenton’s extensive documentation of the Crimean War represents some of the earliest photographic images of war. Fenton traveled to Crimea with the encouragement of the British government, which was heavily criticized for mismanagement of the war effort that had led to the suffering of troops due to a lack of basic supplies. In Crimea, Fenton avoided picturing the wounded or dead in favor of capturing innocuous portraits and views of camp life. The stories of the unfortunate soldiers find visual expression only indirectly in works like Valley of the Shadow of Death, which emphasizes the barrenness of a dangerous battlefield, conveying a bleak vision of a depersonalized world befitting the arena of international warfare.