When Small Is Beautiful

Last week I visited Wolverhampton Art Gallery for the preview of the new exhibition “From Darkroom to Digital”, which celebrates  the 125th anniversary of the Wolverhampton Photographic Society.

It’s a very interesting exhibition, concentrating on the works of six well-known Wolverhampton photographers:  Rejlander, Haseler, Whitlock, Bennett-Clark, Eisenhofer and Susser.

The first of these, Oscar J Rejlander, is known as “The father of Art Photography” – here’s a small sample of his work:

The young Hallam Tennyson (1852-1857), son of Alfred Lord Tennyson, in thoughtful mood.

 200px-YoungHallamTennyson

This next image is not perhaps what you might expect: “The Two Ways Of Life” (dated 1857).

 

twoways

Here Rejlander uses multiple images of the same models, creating a montage in much the same way as we use digital manipulation techniques today. The two young men have the choice of a life of hard work and Christian values, or – well, I suspect ‘debauchery’ is as good a word as any.  The chap on the left does look as if he’s going to have more fun, though…

Apparently Queen Victoria purchased a copy of this photograph for Dear Albert. Draw your own conclusions.

The exhibition runs until 15 February: details are on the page “Dates For Your Diary.”  Do go and see it if you can.

Whilst I was at the Art Gallery, I came across what I consider to be Wolverhampton’s best-kept secret: the “Makers Dozen Studios”.  Housed in a Georgian Building at the rear of the Art Gallery, this is a complex of 12 artists’ studios and a small gallery, open to the public.

mdfb-270x150 You can read more about Makers Dozen here:  makersdozen.co.uk  or visit  their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MakersDozenStudios

Better still, make a point of visiting the studios and gallery. Even better, while you’re there, treat yourself to an original work of art.

About kate

Experienced genealogist but virgin blogger...
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*