The Lady of Shallot by Henry Peach Robinson

http://charon.sfsu.edu/TENNYSON/TENNLADY.HTML

The Lady of Shalott by Henry Peach Robinson, made in 1861 was made from 2 negatives. It is the only known photograph that illustrates the poem by Alfred Tennyson.  "I made a barge, crimped the model's hair, PR fashion, laid her on the boat in the river among the water lilies, and gave her a background of weeping willows, taken in the rain so that they might look dreary." Robinson received many criticisms about this photograph, most about it not being realistic. He was merely trying to illustrate an imaginary scene from the poem, however, this was before photography was used as an art form. I believe the concept was lost on those who only viewed photography as a way to keep records or document actual occurrences. Today, a photograph like this would not be seen as anything unusual.