Before & After

Between 1857 and 1859 Regent Street portrait photographer Henry Hering made several visits to Bethlem Royal Hospital, then at St George’s Fields, Southwark. He photographed several patients on the general wards as well as in its criminal department. It is likely that he was attempting to document what was then known as the “physiognomy of insanity”, though no record of his intentions has been kept. Whatever his purpose, the enduring result is a striking record of institutional life in mid-Victorian Britain.

Mon - Sat 09.00 - 17.00

Free entry - all welcome