Remembering those who came before

Apparently Photogravure has a large collection of images from Camera Work available to see on their site right now. This is the journal Stieglitz published back in 1903-1917, and has some great early images in it. (I dare @Christopher_Perez to not get lost in these for a while).



New York at Night
Haviland, Paul B., b.1880-1950
Camera Work XLVI, 1914
14.1 x 17.6
Photogravure


Road into the Valley - Moonrise
Steichen, Edward, b.1879-1973
Camera Work Steichen Supplement, 1906
16.4 x 20.5 cm
Hand-toned photogravure


New York (Wall Street)
Strand, Paul, b.1890-1976
Camera Work XLVIII, 1916
12.7 x 16.3 cm
Photogravure


Bernard Shaw
Coburn, Alvin Langdon, b.1882-1966
Camera Work XXI, 1908
21.1 x 16.4 cm
Photogravure


Harlech Castle
Davison, George, b.1854-1930
Camera Work XXVI, 1909
15.4 X 21.0 cm
Photogravure

There’s many more where these came from, and are all well worth a look from the masters of the craft in the early 20th century…

(via /r/photography on reddit)

2 Likes

@patdavid - You know me too well. Alas, I’m already lost. I picked up the Taschen “Camera Work” image collection in hardback. I’ve been plotting and planning my next moves. Maybe a new series of works based on these wonderful early photographs is in order?

As an exercise in learning I think a person would make quite a bit of progress in their imaging/processing/presentation abilities if they seriously studied and re-created as closely as possible even a single one of these works.

2 Likes

In particular, I find it fascinating to have a look at Steichen’s Road into the Valley (which is just gorgeous, btw), and to compare that evolution of his style from his earlier work, The Pond—Moonlight.


Road into the Valley - Moonrise
Steichen, Edward, b.1879-1973


The Pond—Moonlight, 1904

In particular, the fact that The Pond — Moonlight is in the top 5 most expensive photographs ever sold ($2.9m USD). Artistically, I think I prefer the Road into the Valley - Moonrise.

A copy of Moonlit Pond hangs in the Portland Art Museum photography section. My wife has many times had to pull me away and I’m usually found to be standing there simply looking in wonder at the beauty of it.