In this series, the curatorial team presents one work from the Meural art library we find essential. (See all installments.)

Photography is a young medium in the history of art. Indeed, the extent to which photography is art is a question that has been debated since the the first daguerreotypes were taken in the mid-19th century. Even today, uncertainty remains—photographs rarely command the same prices as paintings, and while market value is a dissatisfying measure when considering the artistic worth of a medium, it is, nonetheless, a revealing one.

I thought of this centuries-long debate on seeing Reclining Odalisque by Roger Fenton. I knew Fenton as the world’s first war photographer, but, it turns out, he had grander aims than photographic reportage.

In this subdued, yet enchanting photograph, Fenton has taken a theme and a pose commonly tackled by painters—that of the harem and the exotic ‘odalisque’—and created a unique, simplified image.

And by so purposefully recalling the compositions of masters like Renoir and Ingres, it seems to me that Fenton is also making a bold statement: “Look,” he’s saying, “I’m an artist too.”

— Poppy Simpson, Head of Curation