Brian May can do a whole lot more than just play the guitar. The 62 year-old British musician is most famously known for playing lead axe in the rock band Queen for almost 30 years, yet lately he’s been gaining a name for himself in other pursuits. Last year he earned a Ph.D in astrophysics, and now he’s co-authoring a book about 19th century photographer T.R. Williams, whom May believes is “the master” of the daguerreotype.
Entitled A Village Lost and Found, the book brings together the work of T.R. Williams’ pastoral photographs from the 1850s, originally collected in his Our Village series. The photos included in the book give a unique perspective into the lives of villagers at the time — a blacksmith at his forge, workers out in the field gathering harvest, men sharpening tools at the grindstone.
What makes the book especially interesting is that it includes a focusing stereoscope, an instrument designed by May himself which brings every picture into 3-D. Along with his co-author, photohistorian Elena Vidal, May also provides annotation and footnotes that help provide meaning to the individual stories depicted in each photograph. This creates a “powerfully atmospheric and touching set of photographs,” and brings the work of a true pioneer of photography to a contemporary audience.
A Village Lost and Found, published by Frances Lincoln, is set to hit bookshelves on October 22nd. To place pre-orders or read some reviews, check out the publisher’s website here.
View Comments (2)
This is entirely new information which astonishes me. I would have stereotyped Brian May and this is a very good example why not to do this.
This is entirely new information which astonishes me. I would have stereotyped Brian May and this is a very good example why not to do this.