ticketsMember | Make a donation

Falls of the Llugwy, at Pont-y-Pair

Roger Fenton British
1857
Not on view
In autumn 1857, Fenton traveled to the small village of Bettws-y-Coed, in North Wales, a favorite summer haunt of anglers and watercolorists, tucked in the lush gorge of the Llugwy River near its confluence with the Conway. There, in the nearby rocky streams, wooded hollows, and mountainous expanses, Fenton found the subjects of some of his finest landscape photographs.

For this picture, Fenton stood precisely in the position described in Thomas Roscoe's guidebook Wanderings and Excursions in North Wales (1853), perched on an outcropping with his back against one pier of the old stone bridge in the center of town: "I passed over [the Pont-y-Pair] to the opposite bank … and took my station upon one of the rocky projections looking up the river. It was some time since any rain had fallen, and the stream was comparatively shallow, exposing the rude masses of granite that stood midway in the channel, and laying bare to their foundations the broad deep chasms which the rushing waters had formed in their headlong descent." By photographing from below the level of the upstream river, Fenton immersed himself deeply in the natural elements, intensifying the experience of the falls. The dynamic structure of Fenton's composition-zigzagging bands of water, rock, vegetation, and sky-is also noteworthy, adding a dynamism to the rushing river while only hinting at the village buildings beyond.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Falls of the Llugwy, at Pont-y-Pair
  • Artist: Roger Fenton (British, 1819–1869)
  • Date: 1857
  • Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
  • Dimensions: 35.8 x 42.9 cm (14 1/16 x 16 7/8 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Louis V. Bell Fund and Mrs. Jackson Burke Gift, 1988
  • Object Number: 1988.1027
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
On the Beach, Hythe
Roger Fenton
1860
Cossack Bay, Balaklava, Roger Fenton British, Salted paper print from glass negative
Cossack Bay, Balaklava
Roger Fenton
1855
Laughing Satyr, Roger Fenton British, Salted paper print from glass negative
Laughing Satyr
Roger Fenton
1854–58
Birth of St. John, Roger Fenton British, Albumen silver print
Birth of St. John
Roger Fenton
1857
The Temple. Collection of Antiquities, Roger Fenton British, Albumen silver print from glass negative
The Temple. Collection of Antiquities
Roger Fenton
1850s

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.