“Coils of Sunshine”: Charles Smeaton’s Magnesium-Wire Photography in the Catacombs of Rome, 1866-1867

In the mid-nineteenth century photographers were challenged by absence of light in indoor and underground spaces. One promising solution was intense created combustion magnesium, which became commercially available England 1864. This article examines use magnesium wire pioneer Canadian photographer Charles Smeaton, who took first pictures Roman catacombs winter 1866-1867.