sinister shadows
Toronto. Perhaps the best known photographer who used shadows to create special effects was Man Ray.
In the late 19th century and early part of the 20th century many now famous photographers created artistic photos like those the pictorialism era produced. Special soft focus lenses like the Leitz Thambar modified image sharpness to produce different artistic photos.
All this creative and artistic license came later. Throughout most of the 19th century, photographers strived to create accurate representation of their subjects, never mind artistic shots.
Today, for image collectors there are many, many ‘portraits’ and some work place photos but very few of the more artistic photos – be they interiors, flash, pictorialism, or other photos taken or modified to tell a story. We all have portraits in our collection and possibly some interiors and work place photos but very few truly artistic photos (perhaps because they were often highly priced as ‘art’).
Take a closer look at those old photos exhibitors offer at our events. Who knows, you just may spot an artistic photograph in our fall auction or fair.
