Provenance: Purchased in Streatham (London), by the vendor's grandfather, in the 1920s. An elaborate allegory of the choice between the life of virtue and that of vice (in this version the central figure of a philosopher looks towards vice, in a later version he looks to virtue), this copy is captioned in the photographer's hand 'A Pictorial Composition/from Nature/Dedicated to the Artists of England/by O.G. The Photographic Society of Scotland was so outraged that it initially refused to exhibit the picture, before reluctantly agreeing to hang it behind a curtain. Some called the picture 'the symbol of a new era in in photography' some doubted the suitability of combining a number of negatives in one composition others questioned the propriety of treating such subjects photographically, or complained of the semi-nudity of some of the models' (Gernsheim, The Rise of Photography 1850-1880, revised edition 1988, p.38). Download scientific diagram Oscar Gustav Rejlander, 'The Two Ways of Life,' 1857. Whilst Queen Victoria approved of the results, purchasing a copy for her husband Albert when it was exhibited at the Manchester Art Treasure Exhibition (1857), the photograph 'provoked heated discussions in photographic circles.

He printed the composition from thirty separate negatives of single figures, groups, and different backgrounds, arranging them to form one large tableau. Rejlander's aim with The Two Ways of Life was to counter the criticism aimed at photography that it was merely a mechanical art not worthy of comparison with painting.

One of the most controversial photographs of the nineteenth century, The Two Ways of Life was an important image in the history of photo montage, and the narrative of 'Art photography'.

Rejlander: His most famous work, The Two Ways of Life (1857), was based on the background and arrangement of Raphael’s School of Athens (150911) and was created by combining more than 30 negatives. 'The Two Ways of Life', large albumen print on 2 sheets joined, a few surface abrasions and spots, mounted, framed and glazed above a pencil caption in Rejlander's hand 'A Pictorial Composition/from Nature/Dedicated to the Artists of England/by O.G. Other articles where The Two Ways of Life is discussed: O.G.

Rejlander the two ways of life