[MF3D.FORUM:96] Watkins Exhibit Review

[Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

This is a slightly edited article (changes in {} braces) that I posted
to the pure-silver list (a list for B&W photographers and printers).

I finally got a chance to see the Carleton Watkins exhibit "The Art of
Perception" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (in NYC).  {I think this
is the exhibit that the New York Stereoscopic society went on a field
trip to see a while ago.}  Unfortunately this exhibit closes this
weekend.  If you're in the NYC area I would strongly recommend that
you try and see this exhibit this weekend.

This is an incredible exhibit.  Most of the prints are albumen silver
prints from 18x22 inch glass negatives.  {These are very large contact
prints.}  A few of them show signs of deterioration (yellowing,
usually along the left edge).  The prints are really beautiful.

{I wish that all those on photo-3d who insist that "flat" photography
has no purpose when you can do stereophotography instead could see
this exhibit.  There is something about a large, sharp print that you
do not get from any form of stereoscopic image that I have seen.  The
print itself is as much a thing of beauty as the scene it depicts.

Watkins was a stereophotographer and by seeing this exhibit you can
tell that he knew when to use the stereocamera and when not to.
People often talk about the depth of large (non-stereoscopic) prints,
and this exhibit demonstrates it.  These are scenes that would appear
flat stereoscopically, but the prints look like you are viewing
through a window because of their size and the scale of the scene.
These photos are almost 130 years old and were made using techniques
and materials that would not match modern equipment for sharpness and
detail, yet you can count the branches on trees on the opposite rim of
Yosemite valley (miles away).}

Unlike the Shackleton/Hurley exhibit at the American Museum of Natural
History last summer, there was plenty of room to stand back and enjoy
the entire picture, including several panoramic series of large
prints.  Although there were quite a few people there, the exhibit
hall did not seem crowded.  It's possible that many people were at
this exhibit because (like my wife and I) they spotted it while on the
way to the Egyptian art exhibit down the hall that also closes this
weekend (and was very crowded).

The exhibit covers Watkins' trips to Yosemite in the 1860's, the
Columbia River in Oregon, and various scenes in and around San
Francisco.  The accompanying placards do a good job of explaining both
the scene depicted and what had to be done to take the image (e.g.,
packing a portable darkroom and 18x22 camera and supplies all around
the rim of Yosemite valley before the modern trails existed).

Unfortunately the placards were not completely free of modern
political sentiments.  One of the placards practically forgave Watkins
for taking beautiful pictures of industrial scenes (various mining and
railroad scenes) because the sensibilities of the times wouldn't have
made it seem wrong.  I wonder what the curator thinks of John Sexton's
"Places of Power" series.

In addition to the large prints several cabinet style stereoscopes
(for viewing a sequence of stereocards) were on display.  Unlike many
museum stereo card displays I've seen, the acrylic display cabinets
protecting the cabinet viewers and stereocards have cut outs that
allow the viewer lenses to protrude far enough so that you can view
the stereo card on display.  Only one of the cabinets on display had
two cuts outs so that you could view back to back facing cards.  None
of the cabinets allowed you to change cards.  The quality of the views
wasn't the greatest, but I may be biased by my experience with modern
stereoviews and viewers.

The last room of the exhibit had several computers with shutter
glasses set up so that you could view more of the stereocards.  I
didn't get a chance to look at this but my wife thought it was very
well done.  She mentioned that the images were all arranged so that
the scene appears in front of screen.  This was probably done by the
exhibit curators to enhance the stereoscopic (3D) effect, because none
of the actual stereocards on display violated the stereo window in
this manner.  My wife, who is generally not a photography enthusiast
(particularly not a B&W enthusiast), was very impressed with Watkins'
use of composition to make the most of the stereoscopic depth of the
scenes shown.

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Dee Dee!  Don't touch that button!"
reynolds@xxxxxxxxx              | "Oooh!"
http://www.panix.com/~reynolds  |    -- Dexter and Dee Dee
NAR# 54438                      |       "Dexter's Laboratory"