Tintern Abbey, South Aisle

The composition of this photograph follows the myriad columns and arches down the now roofless aisle of Tintern Abbey, one of the great monastic ruins of Wales. By the mid-1850s, technical advances in photography allowed a large amount of detail to be captured, seen here in the intricate textures of the eroding stone and dense, twisting vines. Depicted in beautiful chocolate-brown tones, this picturesque image shows the building slowly being reclaimed by nature. Tintern Abbey, celebrated by British artists and poets such as J.M.W. Turner and William Wordsworth, had been a popular tourist destination since the late 18th century. The British often felt more of a connection to the European medieval past than to the classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, so they looked to their own countryside to recoup a meaningful architectural heritage.