Fred Holland Day – { feuilleton }

Belgian Autochromists

Misty wood (c. 1910) by Charles Corbet.

A perfect autumnal scene from Charles Corbet, one of many woodland views at the Belgian Autochromists site. As usual with autochromes it’s hard to believe that almost all these images are over a century old, the colours are so subtle. Some of the lighting is also remarkable, especially the self-portraits by Ernest van Zuylen which are lit with a single candle. Paul Sano’s lady sitting in the garden gives a foretaste of Magritte-like Surrealism, its inset eclipse appearing at first glance to be a large black sphere hovering unnoticed or ignored beside the seated woman.

Via Wood s Lot.

Melancholia (c. 1910) by Charles Corbet.

Sunset on the heath (c. 1910) by Paul Sano.

Lady and inset of solar eclipse (c. 1910) by Paul Sano.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Colour photography, 1908
• Fred Holland Day revisited
• Constantinople, 1900
• Albert Kahn’s Autochromes
• Gertrude Käsebier’s crystal gazer
• The Dawn of the Autochrome

Colour photography, 1908

Portrait of Jessie M. King by J. Craig Annan (autochrome).

I don’t recall having seen a photo of artist Jessie M. King prior to this so it’s an additional surprise to find one in colour. All these examples are from Colour Photography: and other recent developments of the art of the camera (1908), one of the many books edited by Charles Holme from features in The Studio magazine. Needless to say, not all the entries are colour but a number of the monochrome plates have their own qualities, such as that painterly effect which so many early photographers were eager to cultivate. Anyone familiar with Gertrude Käsebier’s very painterly The Crystal Gazer, famous for its appearance on the cover of a Cocteau Twins sleeve, may like to know that two more portraits by Ms Käsebier are included in Holme’s selection. For a look at more recent attempts to match the effects of painting with the camera, see this piece by Rick Poynor about the remarkable work of Saul Leiter.

A Tangle After a Storm by Walter Bennington.

A Late Winter Sun by Dr. H. Bachmann (gum print).

Continue reading “Colour photography, 1908”

The recurrent pose 41

Nude – The Pool (1910) by George Seeley.

Having spotted this Flandrinesque photogravure print by George Seeley (1880–1955) on a couple of sites I was wondering where there might be a decent collection of the photographer’s other work. “Photogravure” proved to be the key word since The Art of the Photogravure has a selection of Seeley prints. Like his contemporary Fred Holland Day, Seeley created very painterly results with his camera; like Day he was also prepared to pose unclothed young men in natural settings for a “Classical” effect.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The recurrent pose archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Fred Holland Day revisited

Fred Holland Day revisited

St Sebastian with wounded chest (c. 1906).

The work of American photographer Fred Holland Day (1864–1933) has featured here in the past but it’s only recently that I came across the archive of prints at the Library of Congress. Not all the works there are digitised yet, and some are still unavailable for viewing, but the LoC prints one can view are always quality scans. Day would have been a significant photographer whatever his subject but his work has additional interest today for its overt homoerotic dimension; he manages to play the usual evasive games with Biblical themes or Classical mythology whilst maintaining a pictorial quality through soft focus and heavily-grained paper. The mood of some of these shots makes them seem far in advance of other work of the period.

St Sebastian in loincloth, tied to tree with rope, arrows in stomach and side, hands behind back (1906).

Continue reading “Fred Holland Day revisited”

The recurrent pose 33

A double helping of that pose today. The photo above was a tip from commenter Jeremiah Q. Oxterwhiff and is credited on its Tumblr source as being by gay photographer Fred Holland Day (1864–1933). I can’t definitely confirm this but I’m fairly sure I’ve seen it credited to Day before. It’s also the case that another of the photographer’s pictures used the same pose and happens to be part of the first post in this series.

This depiction of Superman’s day off is by Worth1000 contributor jbuck43701 and was another tip from Evan Peterson. Thanks Evan!

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The recurrent pose archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Fred Holland Day