SEASONAL GREETINGS

Dr. Richard Neuhauss
1892-1893
"Snow crystals and ice structures"
(Courtesy of Feroz Gallery)

Portraits: Profiles

Architecture: Christian

Architecture: Islamic

People taking photographs: Photographs

Gustave Le Gray: Camp de Châlons (1857)

People taking photographs: Illustrations

NEW ONLINE EXHIBITIONS
 

• Portraits: Profiles  
    
  I‘ve been considering why the profile is not as common in the history of photography as one might expect. While I‘m pondering this (ideas most welcome) here is a selection of profiles to examine. I‘ve started this exhibition with a 1/6th plate Daguerreotype of a marble bust of Samuel George Morton, and followed it with a Physionotrace and a silhouette to put the series in context.
   
  
• Architecture: Christian  
    
  A new online exhibition on the cathedrals, abbeys, churches of Europe has been added.
   
  
• Architecture: Islamic  
    
  An examination of, mainly 19th century, photographs of key buildings of the Islamic world. Here the great mosques of Cairo, Damascus and Constantinople are shown along with the Holy Sites of Mecca and Jerusalem and the magnificent buildings of Al-Andalus, Islamic Spain, with the great cities of Granada, Cordoba, Toledo and Seville.
   
  
• People taking photographs: Photographs  
    
  Tracking down photographs of photographers at work can be time consuming so this exhibition is a place to start.
   
  
• Gustave Le Gray: Camp de Châlons (1857)  
    
  Although this series is frequently referred to normally only a couple of the photographs by Gustave Le Gray are seen so here is a more complete selection.
   
  "L‘empire c‘est la paix," but in the fashion of perfect equipment for the field. France possesses at the present moment two enormous assemblies of troops - one near Lyons, one at Chalons. This double muster would appear to be dictated by two objects, and we can easily divine them. Lyons is a point from which a weight could be brought to bear either upon Spain, upon Switzerland, or upon Italy. The other camp at Chalons offers a ground upon which the empire can develop its military resources to the highest degree of perfection; it is this camp over which the Emperor presides in person, surrounded by the elite of his generals, in Marshals Pelissier, Canrobert, Magnan, and General de Grammont, with many officers of high rank. Marshal Canrobert is the permanent Commander-in-chief. The camp comprises a complete army, with its infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineers, and even commissariat. Since June it has been undergoing thorough training, even in grand manoeuvres. Speaking in laudation of the Chalons Camp, the Moniteur says, that " the most redoubtable armies at the opening of a campaign have always been those familiarized by a long stay under canvass, in time of peace, with the rough exigencies of discipline and fatigue." Napoleon the First liked to have troops trained as armies, habituated to move in organized masses, and his nephew preserves the same strategy. The prime object in rendering the army available for immediate service, has already been attained. "It may now be said," the Moniteur announces, " that the education of the troops is complete, not only in a limited sense, as applied to one branch of the service, but as applied to the whole body of troops acting together on a vast field of operations." Has this camp a further purpose, or has it not?
   
  The Spectator (Oct, 9, 1857)
   
  
• People taking photographs: Illustrations  
    
  Here we bring together a number of illustrations of photographers at work.
   
  
• Leaves  
    
  If a negative photograph, or a piece of lace or a leaf, be placed over the prepared paper, and put in sunshine, in a few minutes a perfect impression of the object is obtained. The light darkens the colour of the bichromate, and renders it insoluble in water, while the yellow colour washes out from the parts protected from the light by the lace or leaf, or negative photograph, as the case may be. But pictures of this kind have little or no practical value; for although the lights are good enough, the deep black shadows are only represented by a tawny shade. Some eighteen months ago a process was patented for deepening these photographs by treating them with gallic acid and a salt of iron, which went by the name of ‘Sella‘s process.‘ I tried this process at the time according to the specification of the patent, but failed to make one satisfactory specimen. They wanted everything that a good photograph should have,—pure lights, clear halftints, and deep shadows,—and as I found that others had not been more successful, I abandoned my experiments.
   
  W. M‘Craw, "On a New, Cheap, and Permanent Process in Photography", Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Section A - Mathematical and Physical Science, The Athenaeum, No.1618, Oct. 30, 1858, p.554
   
  
• Frederick H. Evans: Cathedrals  
    
  Frederick Henry Evans, a former bookseller turned photographer, was a perfectionist, whose photography, both architectural and portrait, is remarkable for the purity of line and mastery of light, space and composition. His platinum prints of English and French cathedrals are quite outstanding. When platinum became scarce after 1914, he stopped printing altogether rather than use an inferior product. He supported his own photography by working as a freelance photographer for Country Life.
   
  
• Shadows  
    
  What we call "relief "—that is, the apparent standing out of the object from its ground—is effected by the contrasting of light and shadow. So, would you produce breadth and splendour of effect, join together masses of light objects and corresponding masses of dark objects. Again: to get harmony and softness sink some objects wholly or partially in shadow, and let their outlines be insensibly lost in the ground. Finally: to create vivacity and spirit make, in some parts of the picture, abrupt breaks and sharp transitions.
   
  Lights and Shadows in a Picture: Their Use and Value [Root‘s "Camera and Pencil"] reprinted in The British Journal of Photography, April 9, 1875, Vol.XXII, No.779, p.177.
   
  
• Venice  
    
  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  Venice
   
  White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest
      So wonderfully built among the reeds
      Of the lagoon, that fences thee and feeds,
      As sayeth thy old historian and thy guest!
  White water-lily, cradled and caressed
      By ocean streams, and from the silt and weeds
      Lifting thy golden filaments and seeds,
      Thy sun-illumined spires, thy crown and crest!
  White phantom city, whose untrodden streets
      Are rivers, and whose pavements are the shifting
      Shadows of palaces and strips of sky;
  I wait to see thee vanish like the fleets
      Seen in mirage, or towers of cloud uplifting
      In air their unsubstantial masonry.
   
  The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1881), Volume 2, p.381
   
  

Leaves

Frederick H. Evans: Cathedrals

Shadows

• Drawing and optical devices - We are still pretty close to completing this online exhibition which will cover the camera obscura, camera lucida, silhouettes, physionotrace, optical boxes, pantograph and perspective devices. If there are collectors who would like to be involved or have expertise to share let me know. Illustrations and photographs of devices welcome along with the details of contemporary artists who use them.
   
  
• Biographies - If you are a curator or an author who has prepared a number of biographies on a specific subject and would be prepared to share them for the greater good then let me know. All work is credited and linked back.
   
  
• Portraits of photographers - Have you taken any portraits of photographers or do you have some in your collection? We are always seeking scans of portraits so send them through - every little bit helps.
   
  

 
My own page on Facebook

ADDRESS
 

Abstract	Erotica	Fashion	Landscape	Nature
view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links
Photojournalism	Photomontage	Pictoralism	Portrait	Scientific
view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links
Still life	Street	War
view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links	view photo     Read about  Exhibitions  Photographers  Books  Links