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Description: | A photographic portrait of a patient at the Surrey County Asylum, Springfield near Wandsworth, England, taken by Dr Hugh Welch Diamond (1808-1886) in about 1855. In May 1856 Dr Diamond presented a paper to the Photographic Society of London outlining his view that photography was useful in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. He felt that by studying the faces of patients, physicians could identify and diagnose mental complaints. His beliefs were founded in the pseudoscience of physiognomy - the belief that a person's character and temperament is revealed by their physical appearance. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ | Subjects: | photograph salt print | Temporal: | c. 1855 | Source: | Science Museum | Creator: | Diamond, Hugh Welch (1808-1886) | Identifier: | 2003-5001/2/20185 | Go to resource |
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