From: Andrew Epstein (aiepstein@earthlink.net)
Date: 02/11/03-10:48:09 PM Z
Oscar nominations aside,
I was in Chicago the last few days and because of highly valued advice obtained
right on this here list, I went to the Art Institute of Chicago. I had the
pleasure of seeing some wonderful photographs, particularly in the alt- and
historic process category.
There were so many of these photographs between two exhibits, it would make
this an annoyingly longwinded email should I attempt to identify them all; so
I'll cover the highlights. I should warn you however that my 21 month old
daughter helped me avoid taking notes and my memory ain't what is used to be,
not to mention the fact that a novice photographer tells this tale.
Perhaps the heavyweight of the show, to be un-Oscar-like in sequence, is Samuel
J. Miller's daguerreotype of Frederick Douglass taken in 1847/52. It's really
an astonishing photo of Douglas, perhaps one of the greatest portraits in
American History. It's tiny, about 1.5 inches square. It's in mint condition,
still in its original binding. It has this powerful radiance, the luminosity of
the daguerreotype and the forcefulness of character that is captured. I felt
the same way I felt when I was seven seeing the Constitution for the first
time.
The other photograph vying for top honors in the historic category, is Julia
Margaret Cameron's albumen print of Mrs. Herbert Duckworth taken 20 years later
in April of 1867. It's a large oval, a deep chocolate brown. I fail to remember
the dimensions clearly, maybe 8 in. tall by three wide. It is also in mint
condition and so beautiful; I always think Mrs. Herbert looks like Virginia
Woolf.
The Cameron was part of a larger exhibit of recently acquired photographs by
the Institute, which also includes more daguerreotype, albumens, salt prints,
and wax paper negatives from that era. An interesting modern example of wet
plate collodion was printed by Sally Mann, popularly known for portraits of her
children in the nude. She explains that she hand coats the glass somewhat
carelessly and causes uneven density in random areas of the negative. This
example was printed on a large sheet of gelatin silver, about three or four
feet long and one to two feet high. It was a landscape of leaves, tree trunks
and other humid southern fauna, the action of the negative causing a
dream-like, collage effect.
See, this is already longwinded and I've only covered three photos.
A self-portrait daguerreotype by Chuck Close.
A wax paper negative with black pigment darkening a sky.
Pt. on Vellum
Gum Over Pt. (I've never heard of this before?)
A really cool photogram of the under water shadow of a drooping tree.The
photographer immersed a six feet long gelatin silver sheet into a stream at
night and exposed it with a flashlight.
There was another great photo show in the same gallery as well, entitled "The
Human Form Divine: The Body As Seen by the Camera." Like the recent
acquisitions, this show is superb. Although heavily dominated by gel. silver,
it includes a fascinating array of printing processes. There are
platinum-palladiums by Irving Penn and Edward Weston . A Gum Bicromate by
Edward Steichen...
If anyone is in the neighborhood of the Art Institute of Chicago, I highly
recommend these exhibits particularly for the alt-process minded.
Over and Out,
Andrew Epstein
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