143. Copper Ore Vessel, Swansea 1846

Reverend Calvert R. Jones created this salted paper print, titled "143. Copper Ore Vessel, Swansea," sometime in the mid-19th century. Jones, a Welsh clergyman, was also one of the earliest British photographers. This image captures a ship laden with copper ore in the port of Swansea, a major hub for copper smelting during the Industrial Revolution. It’s impossible to look at this image without considering the socio-economic context of 19th-century Wales, and the labour and environmental impact associated with the copper industry. What stories do these ships hold? Who were the sailors, the miners, the merchants involved in this trade? What were their lives like? The ethereal quality of the salted paper print lends a melancholic air to the scene, inviting reflection on the human cost of industrial progress. It subtly reminds us that every commodity has a complex and often troubling history of extraction, transportation, and consumption.