This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Record of historical events

Victoria and Albert collected photographs that documented the political and military events that defined a period of global expansion

JAMES ROBERTSON (1813-88)

Valley of the Shadow of Death

1855-1856

Salted paper print | 22.3 x 29.2 cm (image) (image) | RCIN 2500723

Photograph of a ravine in the Crimea named by Robertson as the Valley of the Shadow of Death. A trench runs the breadth of the photograph, with several piles of cannonballs to the right. A town can be seen in the distance, possibly Sevastopol or Balaklava, with the sea beyond. Robertson photographed the landscape around Balaklava and Sevastopol both before and after the Russians retreated.
  • Creator(s)

    James Robertson (1813-88) (photographer)

  • 22.3 x 29.2 cm (image) (image)

    31.7 x 37.2 cm (mount)

  • Valley of the Shadow of Death. [Crimean War photographs by Robertson].

  • From the collection of Queen Victoria

  • Subject(s)
    • Places
      • Europe
        • Ukraine
          • Crimea
            • Valley of the Shadow of Death [Crimea]
      • Physiography
        • Oceans
          • Atlantic Ocean
            • Black Sea
    • Social sciences
      • Military affairs
        • Wars, Campaigns & Battles
          • Wars
            • Wars of the nineteenth century
              • Crimean War (1853-1856)
                • Crimean campaign (Crimean War)
                  • Battle of Balaklava, 1854 (Crimean War)