| Newsletter for Collectors - Vol 12.1 | February 21_, 2018 | | | Home • Photographers • Online Exhibitions
Contents • Alphabetical • Styles and movements • Articles
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Library • Contact us Welcome to another Luminous-Lint Newsletter.
To all the subscribers to Luminous-Lint I'd like to say how much your support is appreciated. Immense progress is being made as the Themes continue to improve. Many thanks for all the examples and advice you send through. All the best, Alan
Fabricated Realities and photography |
In this Newsletter I'll be examining the diverse resources on Luminous-Lint to put together a history of "Fabricated realities" within photography. Any studio portrait breaks with external realities and from the first Daguerreian studios with their painted backgrounds and props we can see an unbroken thread of fabrication throughout photohistory.
Daguerreotypists including Louis Auguste Bisson, Richard Beard, Samuel Broadbent, Sally Garrett Hewes, Antoine Claudet, William Edward Kilburn, Noël Marie Paymal Lerebours, Southworth & Hawes, Carl Ferdinand Stelzner, T.R. Williams along with as yet unidentified photographers used painted backgrounds for their studio portraits.
Carl Ferdinand Stelzner, Ulla, der Hund im Hause Stelzner, 1850-1865, Daguerreotype, 8 x 7.2 cm (plate), Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (MKG), Inventory number: PDo.J.222
LL/65252
Backgrounds, plinths, columns, pedestals and urns all added to the associations with the Classical World and we find these in salt prints as well mirroring a common theme in art from the Renaissance onwards.
Olympe Aguado, Studio portrait of the photographer's mother Maria de Carmen Vidoire Moreno (marquise de las Marismas), 1853, Salt print, from a glass negative, 22,5 x 17,2 cm, Bassenge Photography Auctions, Auction 104, 3 December 2014, 19th - 21st Century Photography, Lot: 4002
LL/56033
A piece in the 1862 Photographic Journal being the Journal of the Photographic Society captured the, at times, bizarre selection of studio props:
There is always too much of the studio in these carte de visite portraits. We do not merely refer to the extraordinary backgrounds which some of these operators employ. Why a respectable old lady is to be represented as sitting without her bonnet in a chair placed upon a Brussels carpet in the middle of a terraced garden, is always very perplexing; and it is equally difficult to understand what the foundation can be for the theory, which seems to have possessed the minds of several of the photographers, that the middle-aged men of England generally spend their lives leaning against a Corinthian pillar, with a heavy curtain flapping about their legs, turning their backs to a magnificent view, and obviously standing in a frightful thorough draught.
The point was well made and the settings become increasingly inappropriate when the symbols of western civilization, such as Greek columns, were used as studio props around the world.
Unidentified photographer, Portrait of an Indian woman with classical plinth, n.d., Photograph, Private collection of Christopher Pinney
LL/52044
The Félix Bonfils albumen prints of prayer in the Grand Mosque (Umayyad) of Damascus are a wonderful joining of a studio portrait and a well painted background with the illusion of depth. I'm indebted to Margit Krpata for sharing this information.
Félix Bonfils, Musulmans en prière dans la grande mosquée à Damas. Syrie, 1880 (ca), Albumen print, 22.5 x 28 cm, Photo Verdeau
LL/46228
Albumen prints pasted onto carte de visites and cabinet cards were commonplace and continued with the use of scenic backgrounds and the occasional papier-mâché rock.
B. Borri e Figlio (Corfu), Woman of Corfu in local costume, n.d., Carte de visite, painted, Stereographica - Antique Photographica, Courtesy of Bryan and Page Ginns (#23 / 143)
LL/42963
In the 1890 to 1915 period, the significant years of Pictorialism, there are studio fabrications in the photographs of Guido Rey mimicing the paintings of Vermeer. Similar complex tableaux can be found in the photographs of Richard Polak and Count Aleksander von Tyszkiewicz.
Guido Rey, The Letter, 1908, Platinum print, 8 3/4 x 5 1/2 ins, J. Paul Getty Museum, The J. Paul Getty Trust (85.XP.314.7)
LL/7515
Classical motives continue on within the fashion photography of Louise Dahl-Wolfe and others.
Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Lisa Fonssagrives, Posing (Helena Rubenstein's apartment, for Bazaar), 1945, Silver print, 3 5/8 x 10 3/8 ins (34.6 x 26.4 cm), Swann Galleries - New York, Sale 2311, Lot 147
LL/50291
Besides the backgrounds and studio props there are a host of other approaches to creating fabricated realities from the darkroom creations of Jerry N. Uelsmann, the digital worlds of Erik Johansson, Maggie Taylor and others and the remarkable models of Lori Nix, Carl Zimmerman, Paolo Ventura, Oliver Boberg and Thomas Demand.
Carl Zimmerman, Exterior with columns, [Cold City], 2013, Inkjet print, on archival paper, 23 x 26.22 ins / 40 x 45.6 ins, Provided by the artist - Carl Zimmerman
LL/56432
Luminous-Lint has Themes on:
Backgrounds and foregrounds
Props
Props - Balustrades
Props - Benches
Props - Chairs and sofas
Props - Columns, plinths and pedestals
Props - Curtains
Props - Head rests and posing stands
Props - Rustic fences, gates, trees and stumps
Props - Staircases
Props - Swings
Props - Tables
Props - Toys
and many other topics related to Fabricated realities. These include photographs, adverts, patents, ephemera, diary descriptions and contemporary sources to create as complete a picture as possible. This is bread and butter for researchers and gradually it is being used to construct increasingly complete histories on Luminous-Lint. This is but one of over a thousand histories.
Hints for Subscribers
- There are Themes on "Fabricated realities" and "Studio necessities" and these are accessible on the "Contents" page.
- Try the Connections dropdown menu and type in "background" or "prop" and you'll find masses of examples.
- When you are logged in remember to use the "Contextualize" option under each image as it will show you a host of connections.
If you have any questions send me an email at alan@luminous-lint.com
Daguerreotypes of American daguerreotypists |
On 10 February 2018
Ross J. Kelbaugh raised an interesting request on the Facebook page for the Daguerreian Society for daguerreotypes of Daguerreotypists active in the United States. I went through Luminous-Lint and put together a preliminary selection but there were quite a few gaps. Others made suggestions, including the one below of Solomon N. Carvalho, and I extended the examples available.
Unidentified photographer, "Portrait of Solomon N. Carvalho in fraternal apron", 1853 (ca), Daguerreotype, 1/4 plate, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, Object number: 2006.44.20
LL/80186
Paula Fleming suggested adding those from the various collections at the Smithsonian and some of the photographs I knew about but others were new to me. I know of others that are not yet available and they'll be added in as soon as possible. I've put together a preliminary catalogue that you can see below. From the question being raised to the research list took a couple of days and it is now available on Luminous-Lint
Alan Griffiths, Luminous-Lint screenshot showing the visual index for "Daguerreotypes of daguerreotypists taken in America", 2018, 18 February, Screenshot, Luminous-Lint
LL/80250
Thanks to everybody who joined in and thanks to Ross for raising the question.
Free Trial of Luminous-Lint |
A FREE TRIAL for the website is currently available so send an email to alan@luminous-lint.com with your name and reasons for wanting to take a look and I'll set up a password for you.
  
Educational subscriptions |
It is time to ensure that your subscription to Luminous-Lint has been confirmed. Please check with whoever manages subscriptions to digital resources to ensure all is well. If you are a professor, researcher or student requiring access to Luminous-Lint please contact your head of department or librarian.
If you need any assistance with curriculum planning or resources to supplement your courses send me an email.
Luminous-Lint is under continual revision and adding in some of the Rijksmuseum photographs has enhanced the following Themes. If you have suggestions for subjects that should be added please let me know.
Abstraction of the real
Abstract
African Americans
Albumen prints
Albums
Ambrotypes
American Civil War (1861-1865)
American influences on Pictorialism
Appropriation
Archaeology
Art
Avant-garde
Awards and medals
Backgrounds and foregrounds
Brazil
Cabinet cards
Calotypes
Cameraless photographs
Carte de visite
Catastrophes
Chairs and sofas
Children
Christian architecture
Cityscapes - Urban
Columns, plinths and pedestals
Composition
Crime scene photography
Czech Republic
Daguerreotypists - Germany
Digital photomontage
Droughts
Egypt
Emotions
England
Ephemera
Exhibitions and competitions
Forest of Fontainebleau
France
Germany
Great Depression
Hand-painted photographs
Hands
Humour
Islamic architecture
Islam
Land transportation
Marketing
Memory
Mexico
Native Americans
Nature
New York
Occupations and roles
Painting on photographs
Paris
Peoples of the world
Photograms
Photographing art - paintings and drawings
Photographing art - sculpture
Photomontage
Portrait
Poverty
Pre-Raphaelite
Props
Racial issues
Religions
Religious architecture
Remnants of the Ancient and Classical world
Retouching, colouring and painting kits
Royalty
Rustic fences, gates, trees and stumps
Salt prints
Sequences and series
Social life of photographs
Social outsiders
Sri Lanka
Stereoviews, stereographs and stereocards
The Pyramids and the Sphinx
Tintypes
Tipos
Travel
Trees
UK
Using different viewpoints
Vietnam
Weimar Germany (1919-1933)
Women photographers |
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Constantin Brancusi (1876, 21 February - 1957, 16 March) was born - Romania, Gorj, Hobitza. Romanian-born sculptor who moved to Paris in 1904 and did most of his major work in France. He used photography to document his sculptures gaining the advice of Man Ray. As a member of the Parisian avant-garde with his sculptures inspired by non-More...
Yale Joel (1919, 21 February - 2006, 30 September) was born - US, NY, New York. Joel was a LIFE photographer, 1947-1972. Both his sons, David of Chicago and Seth of Los Angeles, are also photographers.
Mikael Levin (1954, 21 February - ) was born - US, NY, New York. A reflective perspective on the relationship between landscapes and history.
Emmy Andriesse (1914, 14 January - 1953, 21 February) died - Netherlands, Amsterdam.
Robert Bingham (1824 - 1870, 21 February) died.
Pierre Jahan (1909, 9 September - 2003, 21 February) died - France, Paris.
Art Kane (1925, 9 April - 1995, 21 February) died - US, KY, Lancaster. American photographer who is well known because of the Harlem group portrait of all the exponents of Jazz.
Ivo Precek (1935, 12 September - 2006, 21 February) died - Olomouc. A significant Czech photographer for the second half of the 20th century and a member of DOFO (1959-1975). DOFO was a group of photographers from the Olomouc region who experimented with abstraction and surreal photography.
Henry Peach Robinson (1830, 9 July - 1901, 21 February) died - Great Britain, England, Tunbridge Wells. The godfather of Pictorialism and extremely influential in nineteenth century photography circles, Robinson shaped public opinion, both through the photographs he exhibited and the books he wrote. He learned combination printing from Oscar Gustave More...
Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819, 3 January - 1900, 21 February) died - UK, Yorkshire, Ripon. British astronomer and photographer. He became the Astronomer Royal for Scotland in 1845 and during a trip to South Africa he had the distinction of being the first calotypist in the country. In 1856 he made a voyage to Tenerife to assess its More... |
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