1898 - ” I would willingly exchange every single painting of Christ for one snapshot.” – G.B. Shaw

George Bernard Shaw began his love affair with photography in 1898 when he bought his first camera. He remained a keen amateur while also writing with his characteristic panache for the various photography magazines that sprang up around the turn of the century. In the debates that raged around ‘pictorialism’, Shaw sided with the ‘modernist’ side, arguing that photographers should not try to mimic the conventions of fine art painting but should rather explore the specific qualities of the medium.