The Linked Ring

The Linked Ring (also known as "The Brotherhood of the Linked Ring") was a photographic society created to propose and defend that photography was just as much an art as it was a science, motivated to propelling photography further into the fine art world. Members dedicated to the craft looked for new techniques that would cause less knowledgeable to steer away, persuading photographers and enthusiasts to experiment with chemical processes, printing techniques and new styles.

Photography was interpreted in two ways; art photography and science photography. The science of photography requires practice that determines the outcome of the image, whereas the art aspect of photography concerns itself with the aesthetic experience and success of the photograph to the viewer. These differences created a tension in the craft that the Linked Ring sought to change.

The group was founded in May, 1892, by Henry Peach Robinson, former Photographic Society member George Davison, and Henry Van der Weyde. The Brotherhood was "a means of bringing together those who are interested in the development of the highest form of Art of which Photography is capable." Membership of the group was by invitation only; other members included William Smedley-Aston, Walter Benington, Arthur Burchett, Frank Sutcliffe, Frederick H. Evans, Paul Martin, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Frederick Hollyer, J. B. B. Wellington, Richard Keene, James Craig Annan, Alfred Horsley Hinton, Lydell Sawyer, Alfred Maskell and, later, Americans Alfred Stieglitz, Rudolf Eickemeyer, Jr., and Clarence H. White. Although works by female photographers such as those by Zaida Ben-Yusuf were exhibited at the annual shows during the 1890s, it was not until 1900 that Gertrude Käsebier became one of the first elected female members of the Ring.

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