(Curatorial caption, accessed 23 November 2014)
Nineteenth-century photographs, be they portraits or scenic views, were generally constructed around a single focus of interest. In 'A game of bowls', Wood, not for the first time, was creating a decentralised composition where the eye of the viewer is allowed to wander from light to dark areas and back again. Whether this was an accident or a deliberate device, it makes the group of people appear much more natural than was usual for the time.
