Looking at history through a 19th century ‘lens’.

The April issue of BBC History magazine needed an illustration for their Talking Points section. The article was a summary of a twitter discussion about how the Victorian’s have determined our view of the past. 19th century technological advances in photography and illustrated publications were debated as contributing factors as to how the Victorian’s have shaped our understanding of what history looked like.

I decided to draw a Victorian woman using a magic lantern, to show an image of an Egyptian pharaoh. I thought the lantern would nod to the developments made in Victorian technology and is a useful device to show a bit of the past. I’ve chosen a pharaoh as I think the Victorians were a bit obsessed with Egyptology.

I really enjoy this kind of brief and love deciphering a text to find a concept that works. BBC History magazine said: “These spot illos really brighten up the news pages and get across concepts which we could never show in a single image.”