William Frederick Lake Price (1810 - 1896)

William Frederick Lake Price

William Frederick Lake Price was a British painter, watercolorist, lithographer, and one of the first photographers.

Price originally trained as an architect and was an assistant to Augustus Pugin before becoming a watercolorist, photographer, and lithographer. Price knew almost every European language and traveled extensively. The subjects of his paintings were varied, from country house interiors to views of Venice, many are architectural, but there are also literary and historical genre scenes.

From 1828 to 1832 Price exhibited at the Royal Academy, and from 1855 to 1860 he had already exhibited at the Photographic Society of London. In the 1850s he joined the London Photographic Society and the London Photographic Exchange Club. Price staged and directed his first photographs meticulously. He consciously endeavored to elevate the newly emerging photography to the level of "high art," imitating the ambitious literary subjects, expressive gestures, and historical details of great historical painting. In 1858 many of his photographic portraits were published in Portraits of Eminent British Artists.