{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1805309"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1805309/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1805309","accessionNumber":"PH.560-2025","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Karnak, M. Legrain, Mlle. Lovelege","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Helen Messinger Murdoch (1862-1956) was a pioneering American photographer best known for her travel photography and early adoption of the autochrome colour process.\r\n\r\nBorn in Boston, Massachusetts, Murdoch first studied painting before beginning her photographic career in the 1890s. Between 1913 and 1915 Murdoch undertook an ambitious round-the-world trip, travelling through Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, North America and the Pacific. At a time when both photography and international travel were largely male-dominated pursuits, Murdoch was among the first female photographers to complete such a journey. \r\n\r\nMurdoch documented her travels using autochromes – vivid, luminous colour photographs that captivated audiences at a time when photographs were mainly monochromatic. Invented by the Lumière brothers in 1907, the autochrome used potato starch granules dyed red, green and blue combined with a photo-sensitive emulsion to create the effect of full colour. \r\n\r\nFrom 1911, Murdoch was a member of the Royal Photographic Society, which exhibited and published her work, and she was widely praised for her technical skill and adventurous spirit. Her images offer a rare and striking record of early 20th century travel, filtered through the emerging medium of colour photography.","physicalDescription":"Autochrome in card mount depicting a corridor within an ancient Egyptian temple complex (the Temple of Amun-Re, Karnak), with stark shadows crossing the walls and floors. At centre right of frame stand a man wearing a brown tunic (French Egyptologist Georges Legrain) and a woman wearing a red shirt and sunhat (Mademoiselle Lovelege).","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Messinger Murdoch, Helen","id":"AUTH341882"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"AAT25687"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Glass","id":"AAT10797"}],"techniques":[{"text":"photography","id":"AAT54225"},{"text":"Autochrome process","id":"AAT53470"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"},{"text":"Women photographers","id":"THES380381"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"DOP","id":"THES291628"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLF","id":"THES49656"},"free":"","case":"MB10","shelf":"SH2","box":"CAX29"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Photograph","id":"AAT46300"}],[{"text":"Autochrome","id":"AAT138292"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Karnak","id":"x40885"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1914","earliest":"1914-01-01","latest":"1914-12-31"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Gift of Colin Axon & Margaret Axon","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"107.95mm","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"frame","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"82.55mm","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"frame","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph by Helen Messinger Murdoch, 'Karnak, M. Legrain, Mlle. Lovelege', autochrome, 1914.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Langford, Catlin, and Victoria and Albert Museum. Colour Mania : Photographing the World in Autochrome. Thames & Hudson, 2022."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Messinger Murdoch, Helen. \"Ceylon and India in Full Colors\" in National Geographic Magazine, Vol. XXXIX, No. 3, March 1921. "}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Precinct of Amun-Re","id":"x41786"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["PH.560-2025"],"accessionNumberNum":"560","accessionNumberPrefix":"PH","accessionYear":2025,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-24","recordCreationDate":"2025-06-11","availableToBook":false}}