Researching a completely unfamiliar subject

I realized that for the manuscript I'm working on, the MC would be interested in photography, and hoping to show her pictures in an exhibition. So far so good.

Problem #1: When it comes to photography, I know nothing, Jon Snow.

Problem #2: The story is set in 1890, so I can't find a professional photographer and ask about equipment/techniques that were unknown back then.

I googled a bit, but that didn't really help. For instance, Victorian post-mortem photography sounded fascinating, but then I found a website which said most such pictures weren't actually of dead people.

So I'm going to start from scratch, with the library. With more understanding of the topic, I'll feel better equipped to tackle websites. And finally, I plan on taking a vacation to London at the end of April, so I'd like to see the collection of photographs in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

But I'm also wondering how other people tackle this sort of thing. What do you do if you have to research something you're completely unfamiliar with? What tips or suggestions would you have?

starrystorm said:

I was just thinking about this today. I'm planning on writing a story based around marionettes and ventriloquists. I have no idea about any of that stuff.

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The most I know of ventriloquists is that there's an old novel by William Goldman called Magic, where the MC is acting out his homicidal impulses through his ventriloquist's dummy.

ETA: Maybe you can find other fiction books set in the late 1800's that have to do with photography?

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That's an idea.

One reason I picked photography was because this is a historical romance, and I hadn't read (or heard of) any other historical romances where the heroine was an amateur photographer. It also gave her a good reason to spend time with the hero, since she wants to take his picture. But there might be historical fiction that has to do with photography.

Chris P said:

I would look for antique camera aficionado websites, and those with discussion fora. I contacted the historical society for a remote western frontier fort for a short story, and they were a goldmine of information.

https://www.photo.net/ came up at the top of Google for me.

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Thanks, Chris! I went to that site and there's a ton of in-depth information. Once I get the basics down and know what questions I need to ask, I'll go back there.

katphood said:

There are a great many photographers that revere old equipment, even to the point of preparing their own glass plates like those used in the 1860s.

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Thanks for the suggestion! Glass plates and silver solutions are topics I need to research.

I think figuring out how your character showed her work, like in an exhibit, might be much harder. Most didn't consider photography an art form in the 1890s.

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Actually, I found that the Royal Photographic Society had exhibitions starting from 1870 (over 400 exhibits in that year). I don't know if any female photographers were allowed to participate at that time, but my heroine's brother is the public figurehead here, and the photographs will be shown under his name.

For your more general question, I guess it depends on how much your story depends on the thing you want to study. If it's a lot, then the pressure is on you to do a lot of research. But if it's not really central, you could probably get by with getting a few facts right.

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Well, I want my characters to have conversations while taking and developing pictures, plus have sex in the darkroom if I can work that in. And then there's the exhibition. So I'll need to know what the darkroom looks like, how to develop the pictures, what sort of photographs other people take, etc.

You might also be able to substitute, for example, painting instead of photography. Would that work?

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The premise is that the hero is scarred to the point where everyone thinks he's horribly disfigured, which is one reason the heroine takes the photographs (she's sort of a Diane Arbus). But in the process she sees beyond his face. There's going to be a theme of surface image vs. reality. The hero also likes the idea of startling people by displaying photographs of himself, rather than hiding away like his relatives would prefer him to do.

I think photographs would display more variation - e.g. taken in different places, with the hero doing different things - than a portrait. A portrait is also likely to be on the formal, posed side, whereas I want to write about the hero loosening up and relaxing during the photo sessions so that the heroine starts to sees him for who he really is.

frimble3 said:

You're in Toronto? Have you tried the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa?

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I've never been to Ottawa (I need to travel more). Will check out their website.

Also, seconding the antique camera clubs and websites. Those guys run from aficionado to fanatic, and are usually quite willing to share their knowledge.

And, you're probably better off with a good biography of a photographer of the period - yes, Matthew Brady, than looking for a fictional portrayal of a photographer.

Also, I offer this:
http://www.photoed.ca/single-post/2017/07/02/FIVE-remarkable-WOMEN-in-Canadian-photo-history

Link is to some information on 5 women, photographers in about your period. Obviously, someone has information.

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Lots of information! Thanks, frimble. Heck, just reading through that page about female photographers in the time period gave me a potential plot point.

Jack McManus said:

Of course, entering "photography" into the search box yields an overwhelming amount of information.

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No kidding. I wished I had an Eyewitness Guide.

The Wikipedia page has a footnote to one of his biographers, Roy Meredith and his book, Mr. Lincoln's Camera Man: Mathew B. Brady. A quick look inside via the Amazon page yields promise; copyrighted 1946, it appears to be a well-researched account of a civilian photographer of the era, plying his trade amidst the chaos. Good descriptions of the equipment, also challenges of setup and travel, and getting people to stand still for their portraits.

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Thank you! I'll check this out.

katphood said:

Sex in a darkroom sounds like a rich environment for storytelling.

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Well, if I learned anything from reading romance novels, it's that multiple sex scenes should not all take place in beds. It's more interesting if it's spiced up location-wise.

Oh, and today at the library I borrowed two books :

1. Eyewitness Books : Photography (a children's book, but I need something simple and easy to start the process)

2. Capturing the Light : The Birth of Photography, A True Story of Genius and Rivalry, by Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport. It focuses on a time period before my setting, but hopefully will still give me some insights into the topic.

Next I'm going to find the book about Matthew Brady.