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Roger
Fenton's architectural artwork on display
at Getty
Abbey
• The Getty is currently displaying
the works of Roger Fenton, a prominent 19th
century photographer. "Glastonbury
Abbey, Arches of the North Aisle,"
taken in 1858 and put on Albumen silver
print, is shown above. The J. Paul Getty
Museum
By
Daniel Linck Savino
Online Forty-Niner
Assistant Opinion Editor
The
eternally tasteful Getty Center has brought
the photography of Roger Fenton to Southern
California for the better part of three
months. A traveling collection of his work
is on display at the Center until April
24, and any art enthusiast would do well
to see it.
Fenton,
born in 1819, was 19th century England's
preeminent photographer. Though his professional
training was in law, he found himself drawn
to the nascent art form of photography.
In 1851, he learned the finer points of
camera use in France. Over the next 10 years
Fenton created a body of work that included
still lifes, panoramas, created scenes and
a slew of architectural photos.
The
still lifes, though mildly appealing, don't
bring much to what is a very tired sub-genre.
Still lifes, especially of fruit, are much
like romance films. There's nothing new
that can be done since people have been
making them for so long and so frequently.
The only merit in the photos is that they
are some of the first still life photos
around.
The
architectural photos and his posed scenes
are by far the most intriguing part of the
display. The architectural photos vary between
giving exclusive focus to a structure, often
abbeys or cathedrals, to showing the effect
of nature on man's work.
One
piece, which shows the door on Lichfield
Cathedral's western side, demonstrates a
key part of both photographic composition
and Fenton's work. In the center of the
photo towards the bottom are two men. If
they weren't there, the size of the doors
and arches would be completely lost. Two
other parts of the image are the balance
(note that it is nearly perfectly centered)
and the cropping.
Around
half of the displayed photos were matted
with an arch, which adds a different flavor
to the presentation. Not necessarily the
decision of the photographer, the rounded
top corners definitely add to the presentation.
Glastonbury
Abbey's north aisle arches, shown to the
bottom, are a perfect example of the natural
world meeting the man-made world. The arches,
which are a recurring theme in Fenton's
work, are only half of the picture, though.
The climbing vines, which make up the other
part of the focus, not only accentuate the
shadows but also seem to become part of
a living shadow, adding to the image in
a way that blurs the line between the natural
and man-made world.
Fenton
was widely acclaimed as one of the first
war photographers. His pictures of the Crimean
war have been hailed for their depth and
intensity. However, those images are far
from effective. The human suffering inherent
to war is completely absent from the photos
in the collection on display. While a dirt
road strewn with cannonballs or a montage
of pictures showing a British army encampment
do touch on elements of war, they entirely
miss the human element of war. Fenton is
an accomplished photographer, but his war
photos are actually the weakest part of
his work.
"All
the Mighty World" will be on display
at the Getty Center until April 24. For
more information, call the Center at (310)
440-7300.
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