...a photoBook is an autonomous art form, comparable with a piece of sculpture, a play or a film. The photographs lose their own photographic character as things 'in themselves' and become parts, translated into printing ink, of a dramatic event called a book... - Dutch photography critic Ralph Prins
dinsdag 23 januari 2007
Asia Maior & Photography of the Dutch East Indies
Nederlands-Indië in foto's, 1860-1940
Photography in the Dutch East Indies
The commercial photographers who started working in the Dutch East Indies from 1845 led a nomadic existence. They would set up a studio in a large town or hotel or at the home of an acquaintance, advertise in the local paper and take a photograph of anybody who had money to spare for that purpose. After a couple of weeks or months when the market had become saturated, they moved on to the next town. Among these pioneers were the two young Englishmen Walter Bentley Woodbury and James Page. From 1857 to 1908 Woodbury & Page was a leading firm in the photography sector in the Dutch East Indies.
Primarily, the commercial photographers took portraits of people, more particularly of prominent individuals. In addition, they sold topographic photos, i.e. pictures of important buildings, streets, volcanoes or agricultural enterprises. Pictures of the various population types in the colony also formed part of their repertoire. The topographic photos were chiefly sold as ‘souvenirs’.
During the last decades of the nineteenth century, the photographers’ wanderings came to an end. At that time, every large town had one or more permanently established photographers. The Surabayan photographers Onnes Kurkdjian and Herman Salzwedel and the Javan, Kassian Cephas (who worked in Yogyakarta) were famous names at the time.
The heyday of commercial photography was over by the beginning of the twentieth century and the role it played in forming an image of the Dutch East Indies diminished noticeably. There were two reasons for this. The introduction of the picture postcard brought an end to the market for topographic photos. And then, thanks to the many technical improvements, photography had essentially become the domain of amateurs: now everybody could make his or her own ‘souvenirs’.
Make a sentimental journey with the Willem Ruys of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd to the Dutch East Indies : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBqIEJlAecU
Walter B. Woodbury
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walter Bentley Woodbury (26 June 1834 to 5 September 1885) was an inventor and pioneering British photographer. He was one of the earliest photographers in Australia and the Dutch East Indies (now part of Indonesia). He also patented numerous inventions relating to various aspects of photography, his best known innovation being the Woodburytype photomechanical process.
Early years
Walter B. Woodbury was born in Manchester, England on 26 June 1834.[1] As a student of a civil engineer in Manchester, he constructed his own camera obscuras from cigar boxes and eyeglass lenses.[2]
In 1851 Woodbury, who had already become a professional photographer, went to Australia and soon found work in the engineering department of the Melbourne waterworks. He photographed the construction of ducts and other waterworks as well as various buildings in Melbourne. He received a medal for is photography in 1854.[3]
At some point in the mid-1850s Woodbury met expatriate British photographer James Page. In 1857 the two left Melbourne and moved to Batavia (now Jakarta), Dutch East Indies, arriving 18 May 1857, and established the partnership of Woodbury & Page that same year.[4]
In Java
During most of 1858 Woodbury & Page photographed in Central and East Java, producing large views of the ruined temples near Surakarta, amongst other subjects, before 1 September of that year[5]. After their tour of Java, by 8 December 1858 Woodbury and Page had returned to Batavia[6].
In 1859 Woodbury returned to England to arrange a regular supplier of photographic materials for his photographic studio and he contracted the London firm Negretti and Zambra to market Woodbury & Page photographs in England[7].
Woodbury returned to Java in 1860 and during most of that year travelled with Page through Central and West Java along with Walter's brother, Henry James Woodbury (born 1836 – died 1873), who had arrived in Batavia in April 1859[8].
On 18 March 1861 Woodbury & Page moved to new premises, also in Batavia, and the studio was renamed Photographisch Atelier van Walter Woodbury, also known as Atelier Woodbury. The firm sold portraits, views of Java, stereographs, cameras, lenses, photographic chemicals and other photographic supplies. These premises continued to be used by the firm until 1908, when it was dissolved[9].
Return to England
In late January or early February 1863, Woodbury left Java to return to England, because of ill health.[10]
Having returned to England, Woodbury invented the Woodburytype photomechanical reproduction process, which he patented in 1864.[11] Between 1864 and 1885 Woodbury took out more than 30 patents in Britain and abroad for inventions relating to balloon photography, transparencies, sensitized films and improvements in optical lanterns and stereoscopy.[12] In addition to his inventions, Woodbury produced photographs documenting London's poor.[13]
In 1865 his Woodburytype process was bought by the Photo Relief Company, then bought by the Woodbury Permanent Photographic Printing Company and then bought by a succession of other companies in Britain and elsewhere.[14]
Walter B. Woodbury died on 5 September 1885.[15]
In his career Woodbury produced topographic, ethnographic and especially portrait photographs. He photographed in Australia, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and London.[16] Although individual photographers were rarely identified on Woodbury & Page photographs, between 1861 and 1862 Walter B. Woodbury occasionally stamped the mounts of his photographs: "Photographed by Walter Woodbury, Java".[17]
Notes
^ Anglo-American Name Authority File.
^ Auer and Auer.
^ Auer and Auer; Browne and Partnow, 676-677.
^ Merrillees, 256, 258. Bloom gives the date of their arrival in Batavia as the Fall of 1856 (Bloom, 29).
^ Merrillees, 256.
^ Merrillees, 256-257.
^ Bloom, 29.
^ Merrillees, 258,
^ Merrillees, 258-260.
^ Merrillees, 260; Ovenden, 35. Bloom gives the date of his return as 1862 (Bloom, 30), Auer and Auer give the date as 1864.
^ Ovenden, 216; Rosenblum, 198; Bloom, 30. Auer and Auer give the date 1866.
^ Auer and Auer; Browne and Partnow, 677.
^ Browne and Partnow, 677.
^ Auer and Auer.
^ Merrillees, 260.
^ Edwards, 581; Merrillees, 260; Browne and Partnow, 677.
^ Merrillees, 260
References
Anglo-American Name Authority File, s.v. "Woodbury, Walter B. (Walter Bentley), 1834-1885", LC Control Number no 2003087165. Accessed 20 May 2004.
Auer, Michèle, and Michel Auer. Encyclopédie internationale des photographes de 1839 à nos jours/Photographers Encyclopaedia International 1839 to the Present (Hermance: Editions Camera Obscura, 1985).
Bloom, John. "Woodbury and Page: Photographers of the Old Order". In Toward Independence: A Century of Indonesia Photographed (San Francisco: The Friends of Photography, 1991), 29-30.
Browne, Turner, and Elaine Partnow. Macmillan Biographical Encyclopedia of Photographic Artists & Innovators (New York: Macmillan, 1983), 676-677.
Canadian Centre for Architecture; Collections Online, s.v. "Woodbury, Walter B.". Accessed 28 September 2006.
Edwards, Gary. International Guide to Nineteenth-Century Photographers and Their Works (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1988), 581-582.
Gernsheim, Helmut. The Rise of Photography: 1850-1880: The Age of Collodion (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1988), 263-264.
Leo Haks, Indonesian Art & Photography, s.v. "Woodbury & Page". Accessed 28 September 2006.
Merrillees, Scott. Batavia in Nineteenth Century Photographs (Richmond, England: Curzon Press, 2000), 256-260.
Ovenden, Richard. John Thomson (1837-1921): Photographer (Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland, The Stationary Office, 1997), 35-36, 216.
Rosenblum, Naomi. A World History of Photography (New York: Abbeville Press, 1984), 34, 197-198.
Union List of Artist Names, s.v. "Woodbury, Walter Bentley". Accessed 28 September 2006.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_B._Woodbury"
Asia Maior & Photography of the Dutch East Indies
Nederlands-Indië in foto's, 1860-1940
Photography in the Dutch East Indies
The commercial photographers who started working in the Dutch East Indies from 1845 led a nomadic existence. They would set up a studio in a large town or hotel or at the home of an acquaintance, advertise in the local paper and take a photograph of anybody who had money to spare for that purpose. After a couple of weeks or months when the market had become saturated, they moved on to the next town. Among these pioneers were the two young Englishmen Walter Bentley Woodbury and James Page. From 1857 to 1908 Woodbury & Page was a leading firm in the photography sector in the Dutch East Indies.
Primarily, the commercial photographers took portraits of people, more particularly of prominent individuals. In addition, they sold topographic photos, i.e. pictures of important buildings, streets, volcanoes or agricultural enterprises. Pictures of the various population types in the colony also formed part of their repertoire. The topographic photos were chiefly sold as ‘souvenirs’.
During the last decades of the nineteenth century, the photographers’ wanderings came to an end. At that time, every large town had one or more permanently established photographers. The Surabayan photographers Onnes Kurkdjian and Herman Salzwedel and the Javan, Kassian Cephas (who worked in Yogyakarta) were famous names at the time.
The heyday of commercial photography was over by the beginning of the twentieth century and the role it played in forming an image of the Dutch East Indies diminished noticeably. There were two reasons for this. The introduction of the picture postcard brought an end to the market for topographic photos. And then, thanks to the many technical improvements, photography had essentially become the domain of amateurs: now everybody could make his or her own ‘souvenirs’.
Make a sentimental journey with the Willem Ruys of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd to the Dutch East Indies : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBqIEJlAecU
Walter B. Woodbury
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walter Bentley Woodbury (26 June 1834 to 5 September 1885) was an inventor and pioneering British photographer. He was one of the earliest photographers in Australia and the Dutch East Indies (now part of Indonesia). He also patented numerous inventions relating to various aspects of photography, his best known innovation being the Woodburytype photomechanical process.
Early years
Walter B. Woodbury was born in Manchester, England on 26 June 1834.[1] As a student of a civil engineer in Manchester, he constructed his own camera obscuras from cigar boxes and eyeglass lenses.[2]
In 1851 Woodbury, who had already become a professional photographer, went to Australia and soon found work in the engineering department of the Melbourne waterworks. He photographed the construction of ducts and other waterworks as well as various buildings in Melbourne. He received a medal for is photography in 1854.[3]
At some point in the mid-1850s Woodbury met expatriate British photographer James Page. In 1857 the two left Melbourne and moved to Batavia (now Jakarta), Dutch East Indies, arriving 18 May 1857, and established the partnership of Woodbury & Page that same year.[4]
In Java
During most of 1858 Woodbury & Page photographed in Central and East Java, producing large views of the ruined temples near Surakarta, amongst other subjects, before 1 September of that year[5]. After their tour of Java, by 8 December 1858 Woodbury and Page had returned to Batavia[6].
In 1859 Woodbury returned to England to arrange a regular supplier of photographic materials for his photographic studio and he contracted the London firm Negretti and Zambra to market Woodbury & Page photographs in England[7].
Woodbury returned to Java in 1860 and during most of that year travelled with Page through Central and West Java along with Walter's brother, Henry James Woodbury (born 1836 – died 1873), who had arrived in Batavia in April 1859[8].
On 18 March 1861 Woodbury & Page moved to new premises, also in Batavia, and the studio was renamed Photographisch Atelier van Walter Woodbury, also known as Atelier Woodbury. The firm sold portraits, views of Java, stereographs, cameras, lenses, photographic chemicals and other photographic supplies. These premises continued to be used by the firm until 1908, when it was dissolved[9].
Return to England
In late January or early February 1863, Woodbury left Java to return to England, because of ill health.[10]
Having returned to England, Woodbury invented the Woodburytype photomechanical reproduction process, which he patented in 1864.[11] Between 1864 and 1885 Woodbury took out more than 30 patents in Britain and abroad for inventions relating to balloon photography, transparencies, sensitized films and improvements in optical lanterns and stereoscopy.[12] In addition to his inventions, Woodbury produced photographs documenting London's poor.[13]
In 1865 his Woodburytype process was bought by the Photo Relief Company, then bought by the Woodbury Permanent Photographic Printing Company and then bought by a succession of other companies in Britain and elsewhere.[14]
Walter B. Woodbury died on 5 September 1885.[15]
In his career Woodbury produced topographic, ethnographic and especially portrait photographs. He photographed in Australia, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and London.[16] Although individual photographers were rarely identified on Woodbury & Page photographs, between 1861 and 1862 Walter B. Woodbury occasionally stamped the mounts of his photographs: "Photographed by Walter Woodbury, Java".[17]
Notes
^ Anglo-American Name Authority File.
^ Auer and Auer.
^ Auer and Auer; Browne and Partnow, 676-677.
^ Merrillees, 256, 258. Bloom gives the date of their arrival in Batavia as the Fall of 1856 (Bloom, 29).
^ Merrillees, 256.
^ Merrillees, 256-257.
^ Bloom, 29.
^ Merrillees, 258,
^ Merrillees, 258-260.
^ Merrillees, 260; Ovenden, 35. Bloom gives the date of his return as 1862 (Bloom, 30), Auer and Auer give the date as 1864.
^ Ovenden, 216; Rosenblum, 198; Bloom, 30. Auer and Auer give the date 1866.
^ Auer and Auer; Browne and Partnow, 677.
^ Browne and Partnow, 677.
^ Auer and Auer.
^ Merrillees, 260.
^ Edwards, 581; Merrillees, 260; Browne and Partnow, 677.
^ Merrillees, 260
References
Anglo-American Name Authority File, s.v. "Woodbury, Walter B. (Walter Bentley), 1834-1885", LC Control Number no 2003087165. Accessed 20 May 2004.
Auer, Michèle, and Michel Auer. Encyclopédie internationale des photographes de 1839 à nos jours/Photographers Encyclopaedia International 1839 to the Present (Hermance: Editions Camera Obscura, 1985).
Bloom, John. "Woodbury and Page: Photographers of the Old Order". In Toward Independence: A Century of Indonesia Photographed (San Francisco: The Friends of Photography, 1991), 29-30.
Browne, Turner, and Elaine Partnow. Macmillan Biographical Encyclopedia of Photographic Artists & Innovators (New York: Macmillan, 1983), 676-677.
Canadian Centre for Architecture; Collections Online, s.v. "Woodbury, Walter B.". Accessed 28 September 2006.
Edwards, Gary. International Guide to Nineteenth-Century Photographers and Their Works (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1988), 581-582.
Gernsheim, Helmut. The Rise of Photography: 1850-1880: The Age of Collodion (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1988), 263-264.
Leo Haks, Indonesian Art & Photography, s.v. "Woodbury & Page". Accessed 28 September 2006.
Merrillees, Scott. Batavia in Nineteenth Century Photographs (Richmond, England: Curzon Press, 2000), 256-260.
Ovenden, Richard. John Thomson (1837-1921): Photographer (Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland, The Stationary Office, 1997), 35-36, 216.
Rosenblum, Naomi. A World History of Photography (New York: Abbeville Press, 1984), 34, 197-198.
Union List of Artist Names, s.v. "Woodbury, Walter Bentley". Accessed 28 September 2006.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_B._Woodbury"
donderdag 18 januari 2007
Gerry Badger & Martin Parr Five Favorite Photobooks
October 31, 2006
By Edgar Allen Beem
With their second volume of The Photobook: A History (Phaidon 2006), Martin Parr and Gerry Badger (a critic, curator and photographer himself) have presented us with another fascinating, inquisitive, biased, and highly readable account of the published photography book. In the November issue of PDN, Parr and Badger discussed the new publication and the importance of the photobook - as opposed to the print – in the history of the medium.
"It’s a history of photography, yet it's a personal choice at the same time," says Badger, who wrote all of the text in the book except Parr’s preface. "It’s not definitive. No history is definitive.."
Volume II picks up roughly where Volume I left off, taking on American photobooks since the 1970s and European photobooks since the 1980s. It also adds chapters on photobooks from around the world, company books commissioned by corporations, artist’s photobooks, books assembled by picture editors, books by concerned photographers since World War II, the New Objective photobooks by Bernd and Hilla Becher and their Dusseldorf School followers, and a rather catch-all category Parr and Badger call "the photography of modern life."
Within the 336 pages are over 200 selections ranging from the obvious like Avedon's In The American West, to the completely obscure – such as two high school yearbooks from Texas and New Jersey.
"This is a revisionist history looking at the history of photography from the point of view of photographers," says Parr.
Presented here are ten selections, five each by Parr and Badger, highlighting some of their favorite moments from The Photobook: A History, Volume II.
Gerry Badger
Perhaps it’s not fair to ask Gerry Badger, who has written about more than 400 titles in the two volumes of The Photobook, to pick five personal favorites. But we did and Gerry Badger was happy to oblige.
American Photographs (1938) by Walker Evans – "The book that defines not only a vision of America in the 1930s and the photobook but also a complex view of photographic modernism."
The Pond (1985) by John Gossage – "Adams, Shore, Baltz – all the New Topographic photographers made great books, but none are better than The Pond."
Alphabet of Spiritual Emptiness (1946) by Zdenek Tmej – "Extraordinarily rough, lyrical book made clandestinely during the war by a 'guest worker' of the Nazis."
For a Language to Come (1964-1973) by Takuma Nakahira – "A dark, troubling book presenting one man's view of Japan – a visionary dream or a nightmare."
La Fille du docteur (1991) by Sophie Calle – "One of the best 'conceptual' books by an artist using photography. Calle’s La Fille du docteur is both serious and funny and also a masterpiece of the bookmaking craft."
Martin Parr
Martin Parr selected five favorite photobooks, but counseled, "I write these today, but the list may be different next week."
Sashin Yo Sayonara (Bye Bye Photography, Dear) (1972) by Daido Moriyama – "If a book can ever explode when it opens, this is it. The dynamics and boldness are unique."
Checked Baggage (2004) by Christien Meindertsma – "This book has almost more resonance now than when it was originally published. A brilliant and simple idea that hits you directly between the eyes."
Fait: Koweit 1991 (1992) by Sophie Ristelhueber – "The design and the narrative took the idea of photography books on war into unknown waters.
It was so radical when it was originally published, most people just did not get it."
Industriia sotsializma (1935) by El Lissitsky – "The design and imagery are so bold that opening and viewing this takes your breath away."
William Eggleston's Guide (1976) by William Eggleston – "This book changed the way we thought about color photography. His images get inside our heads and we struggle to understand why, but his influence is always there."
dinsdag 16 januari 2007
Piet Zwart & De Stijl & de Nieuwe Zakelijkheid & Photography & Typography & Design
Piet Zwart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
He started his career as an architect and worked for Jan Wils and Berlage.
As a designer, Zwart was well known because of his work for both the Nederlandse Kabelfabriek Delft (the Dutch Cable Factory in Delft) and the Dutch Postal Telegraph and Telephone, and as a pioneer of modern typography. He did not adhere to traditional typography rules, but used the basic principles of constructivism and "De Stijl" in his commercial work. His work can be recognized by its primary colors, geometrical shapes, repeated word patterns and an early use of photomontage.
He created a total of 275 designs in 10 years for the NKF Company, almost all typographical works. He resigned in 1933 to become an interior, industrial and furniture designer.
Piet Zwart died at the age of 92 in 1977.
Nederlandse typograaf, fotograaf en industrieel ontwerper
De Nederlandse typograaf, fotograaf en industrieel ontwerper Piet Zwart werd in 1885 geboren te Zaandijk.
Zwart studeerde aan de Rijksschool voor Kunstnijverheid in Amsterdam van 1902 tot 1907. Hij volgde les in architectuur en tekenen. Na zijn studie verhuisde hij naar Leeuwarden, waar hij tekenles gaf. In de twee jaar voor de Eerste Wereldoorlog studeerde hij aan de Technische Hogeschool in Delft tot hij werd opgeroepen om zijn dienstplicht te vervullen.
Assistent van architect H.P. Berlage
Regelmatig ontmoete hij Jan Wils en Huszár, die hem zeer beïnvloedden, maar toch zou Piet Zwart nooit deel uit gaan maken van De Stijl.
In 1919 werkte hij bij de firma De Stijl van Jan Wils. Twee jaar later werd hij assistent van de architect H.P. Berlage. Later schreef Zwart hierover: "In die tijd was de relatie van de architect met de werknemer compleet anders dan tegenwoordig. Assistenten worden tegenwoordig genoemd als zij van belang zijn geweest. Dat was in die tijd niet het geval; je was een nederige werknemer, de architect was je baas en deze relatie was heel duidelijk."
Nederlandsche Kabelfabriek (NKF)
Op zesendertig-jarige leeftijd ontwierp Zwart voor het eerst voor de vertegenwoordiger van Vickers. In 1923 introduceerde Berlage hem bij de Nederlandsche Kabelfabriek (NKF). Piet Zwart verwees de traditionele typografische principes naar de prullenmand en koos de formele constructieve De Stijl aanpak voor zijn Nederlandse ontwerpen. De relatie met de NKF bleef tot 1933 in stand. Gedurende deze tien jaar produceerde hij 275 advertenties en de veel geprezen publicatie "Sterkstroom". Later verklaarde Piet Zwart wat hij had geleerd van deze opdrachten: "Eigenlijk heb ik op deze manier geleerd wat typografie inhield. Ik kende de termen niet, ik kende de methoden niet, ik wist niet eens het verschil tussen boven- en onderkast."
Om zoveel mogelijk aandacht te krijgen van de klant experimenteerde Zwart hevig met grote schreefloze letters, herhalingen van woordenpatronen en sterke diagonalen. Bovendien was hij één van de eerste, die de fotomontagetechniek toepaste.
Belangrijke opdrachtgevers
Dankzij de typografische opdrachten kon hij het zich veroorloven om zijn baan bij Berlage op te geven toen hij ongeveer veertig was. Naast de NKF werkte Piet Zwart voor vele andere klanten, waarvan de belangrijkste de PTT was. Hij ontwierp vijf postzegels en ook enig reclamedrukwerk voor het staatsbedrijf.
Bruijnzeel
Zijn intuïtieve aanpak en vooral ook zijn ingenieuze manipulatie van grafische elementen, gecombineerd met de typische De Stijl kleurencombinaties, vormden een contrast met de meer formele benadering door andere exponenten van de "nieuwe" typografie.
Aan het einde van 1933 maakte Piet Zwart een grote ommezwaai. Voor de Nederlandse firma Bruijnzeel ging hij keukeninterieurs ontwerpen.
Piet Zwart overleed te Wassenaar in 1977.
The name De Stijl, title of a magazine founded in the Netherlands in 1917, is now used to identify the abstract art and functional architecture of its major contributors: Mondrian, Van Doesburg, Van der Leck, Oud, Wils and Rietveld. De Stijl achieved international acclaim by the end of the 1920s and its paintings, buildings and furniture made fundamental contributions to the modern movement.
Op weg naar het museum liet ik mijn camera op het trottoir vallen, verloor tweehonderd meter verder een stuk van mijn hak, kreeg in het museum een berisping omdat ik een foto maakte van de keuken en besmeurde de museumvloer met modder uit de museumtuin. Kortom, afgelopen dinsdag was ik in het Centraal Museum in Utrecht en zag de tentoonstelling ideaal ! wonen. Ik maakte er in het diepste geheim mijn foto's, de Volkskrant schreef erover in haar kunstbijlage: |
zaterdag 13 januari 2007
photoBooks on INTernet available now by Bint
Available now by Bint photoBooks on INternet : http://www.boekwinkeltjes.nl/bint