that which the eye saw. Following contemporary optical theories, he produced photographs with one area of sharp focus while the remainder was unsharp. He vehemently pursued this argument about the nature of seeing and its representation in photography, to the discomfort of the photographic establishment. Another of Emerson's passionate beliefs was that photography was an art and not a mechanical reproduction. An argument with the establishment ensued on this point as well, but Emerson found that his defence of photography as art failed, and he had to allow that photography was probably a form of mechanical reproduction. The pictures the Robinson school produced may have been "mechanical", but Emerson's may still be considered artistic, since they were not faithful reproductions of a scene but rather having depth as a result of his one-plane-sharp theory. When he lost the argument over the artistic nature of photography, Emerson did not publicize his photographic work but still continued to take photographs. Publications Paul Ray at the Hospital: a Picture of Student Life (1882, privately published) Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads (1886) Pictures from Life in Field and Fen (1887) The Compleat Angler, or, The Contemplative Man's Recreation. Being a Discourse of Rivers, Fish-Ponds, Fish, and Fishing by Izaak Walton with photogravures by Emerson (1888) Idylls of the Norfolk Broads (1888) Pictures of East Anglian Life (1888) Naturalistic Photography for Students of the Art (1889) Wild Life on a Tidal Water (1890) On English Lagoons (1893) Birds, Beasts and Fishes of the Norfolk Broadland (1895) Marsh Leaves (1895) Caóba, the Guerilla Chief. A Real Romance of the Cuban Rebellion (1897) The English Emersons, a genealogical historical sketch to the end of the 17th century (1898) Suggested Amended Billiard Rules for Amateur Players (1908) References Further reading Turner, Peter, and Richard Wood. P.H. Emerson: photographer of Norfolk. Boston: D. R. Godine; London: Gordon Fraser, 1974. Newhall, Nancy Wynne. P.H. Emerson: the fight for photography as a fine art. New York: Aperture, 1975. McWilliam, Neil, Veronica Sekules, and Michael Brandon-Jones. Life and landscape: P.H. Emerson: art & photography in East Anglia, 1885–1900. Norwich: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, 1986. Handy, Ellen, Brian Lukacher, and Shelley Rice. Pictorial effect naturalistic vision: the photographs and theories of Henry Peach Robinson and Peter Henry Emerson. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum, 1994. Maynard, Patrick. The Engine of Visualization: Thinking through Photography, ch. XI. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press,