All Photographs Great and Small
Anamorfose Photo Gallery
All photographs Great and Small Photos come in all sorts of sizes, forms and themes.
AnamorFose.be Nieuwstraat 11 B-8870 Izegem, Belgium Phone: + 32 476 49 19 71 xavier@anamorfose.be www.anamorfose.be Š 2013 Xavier Debeerst
All photographs great and small (Updated version)
Photos come in all sorts of sizes, forms and themes. This year we have come across a wide variety of photographic applications in which there is an interesting relationship between the form and the image. We have really enjoyed the research into the pictural and historical relationship between both. We have found very strange objects. Photos which have become genuine objects. Yet, the image remains very important. The peculiar form adds an extra dimension to the image. The reproduction of an issue of The Times of 1859 is an interesting example. When the reproduction of the newspaper issue measures only a couple of millimeters it becomes something completely different. In this case, we’re talking about “A Photographic Curiosity” (John C. Stovin). You need a good microscope to be able to read the newspaper. We’re in the middle of the 19th Century. The century of rationalism. Photography is new and the microscope becomes a part of the bourgeois living room. Combine the interest in microscopic slides and photography and you have microphotographs. Very small images, no larger than a microscope slide. Sometimes they made reproductions of Daguerreotypes on these microscopic slides. From the extremely small to the mammoth print is a big step. Or rather, it’s a heavy step. Do you remember the large framed photo billboards in the railway stations? Perhaps not. It was common at the turn of the last century. We have one of these prints in the catalogue. It’s made by Lumière, Lyon and it’s a view of the Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France. A lot is happening in this picture. Take a closer look at the railway station in the right under corner…. Scientists and photographers continue their search for ways to capture the newly discovered worlds of the infinitely big (astronomy) and the infinitely small (the microscopic world). This is the era of big discoveries. These discoveries need be shown and distributed to other scientists, students and a larger public in general. Even on fairs. The magic lantern becomes as popular as the beamer is today. Lantern slides of discoveries are projected. Astronomical as well as microscopic discoveries. In the catalogue you will find astronomic lantern slides based on the work of James Nasmyth and microscopic lantern slides by Walter Tyler and other slide makers. The View-Master will be the next step, a genius toy with the same goal as the lantern slides, finally followed by the commercial 35mm slides. A remarkable set of those was edited in 1969 by Zeiss with images from Apollo 11.
The View-Master added stereo to the slides. Stereo photography was one of the first forms of photography. Stereo photography became a very popular form of entertainment in the early days of photography. A beautiful example is the box with anaglyphs of erotic scenes. Typically French. In vernacular photography you come across countless ways to present photos. If you look at the contemporary digital printing companies you will find forms of albums, frames and gadgets that have their origins in the 19th and early 20th century photography. Take for instance the beautiful musical photo album which plays a tune when you open it. The Italian folding screen with four portraits of family members. Father, mother and two sons. There is such a contrast between the portraits and the folding screen that it becomes almost surreal. It actually looks like a modern work of art. A wonderful Japanese wooden box with 41 small photos of the street life in Tokyo from the 1950s. Another wonderful object. Especially because of the red tissue that covers and protects the photos. A fragile world. The Japanese box is in huge contrast with the small German photo album of the Second World War. The album has a typical Biedermeier cover but the 50 photos show, at a first sight, the innocent German daily life during the war. Sometimes you don’t want a second view of these photos…. This selection of objects and images is far from complete. There are so many more other forms of photography to discover. That’s one of the great things of the history of photography; it’s a never ending journey in time. Xavier Debeerst, September 2013 Sources Lucerna – the Magic Lantern Web Resource (http://www.slides.uni-trier.de) Microscopist – Historical Makers of Microscopes and Microscope Slides (http://microscopist.net/) Victorian Microscope Slides (http://www.victorianmicroscopeslides.com/) The Magic Lantern Society (http://www.magiclantern.org.uk/)
Sales Terms & Conditions The photos can be ordered by e-mail (xavier@anamorfose.be) or in the Collector’s Room. The photos can be picked up at the Gallery in Izegem, Belgium or are shipped with registered mail. We have been searching for a shipping method which guarantees the best security at the most interesting cost. We have the best experiences with Registered Mail by the Belgian Post. Other shipping methods are possible. Please contact us prior to your order. All photographs are available for inspection on our premises by appointment, or at your location through special arrangement. The availability of photographs is subject to prior sale. All prices are subject to change without notice. All photographs are returnable within seven (7) days of their delivery date, packed carefully in the same packing material in which they were received and insured for their full value. All prices are in Euro and do not include shipping. Payment is required in Euro either by PayPal or by Direct Bank Transfer. All transactions are confidential and, unless specifically authorized, credit card details are deleted from our records when transactions are complete. Items will be dispatched following payment authorization. Order acknowledgments and invoices will be e-mailed unless an alternative is requested. A "no quidable" refund (minus shipping charges) is offered for items safely returned within seven days of receipt. Payment must be made in Euro, payable in a Belgian bank. Institutions will be invoiced net thirty (30) days. In such cases, shipping charges will appear as a separate amount on the invoices. Foreign orders are sent by registered mail, unless otherwise specified by prior arrangement. Foreign shipments are subject to the customs regulations of the country to which they are sent. AnamorFose is not responsible for any violation of these regulations, nor for securing import licenses. It is the responsibility of the buyer to handle any customs questions or to settle any official actions taken as a result of an attempt to deliver the purchases. Belgian sales tax of 6% will be collected where applicable. European residents holding valid tax exempt numbers should include these numbers on their orders. Any sale of these photographs does not constitute an implied sale of the copyright, or rights to reproduce the photograph in any way. AnamorFose makes no statement or claim concerning copyrights for any photographs sold through its Virtual Gallery. Anyone wanting to use any of the photographs displayed here for any purpose other than viewing them on this site must receive specific permission in writing from AnamorFose.
Š Anamorfose 2013