Benjamin Brecknell Turner, 'Crystal Palace

Benjamin Brecknell Turner (1815-1894) 
'Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, 1852, Nave'
England
1852-1854
Albumen Print from paper negative
Museum no. PH.2-1982

This is a view of the 1, 848 feet long transept of the Crystal Palace showing the swooping lines of the roof trusses. No doubt Turner was struck by the purity of its form after all of the complex decoration of the exhibition courts and the exhibits had gone. Other photographers worked in the Crystal Palace: none matched this image of the brilliant tensile geometry of its structure.