Assouan
Artist: Francis Frith (British, 1822-1898)
Date: 1862-1863
Dimensions:
Image: 6 1/8 x 8 7/8 in. (15.6 x 22.5 cm);
Sheet: 12 1/2 x 17 15/16 in. (31.8 x 44 cm)
Medium: Albumen print
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1982.208
Label Text:
Beautifully composed, with the full range of warm albumen tones intact, this photograph demonstrates the power and monumentality Francis Frith was able to achieve even in small images. Though it is meant to be a precise record of an actual site, the drama of the composition and light enhance the exotic and romantic content. Assouan reflects Frith’s own advice that the student of photography “has to aim at…not the production of a large number of good pictures, but if possible, of one that shall satisfy all the requirements of his judgment and taste.”
Beautifully composed, with the full range of warm albumen tones intact, this photograph demonstrates the power and monumentality Francis Frith was able to achieve even in small images. Though it is meant to be a precise record of an actual site, the drama of the composition and light enhance the exotic and romantic content. Assouan reflects Frith’s own advice that the student of photography “has to aim at…not the production of a large number of good pictures, but if possible, of one that shall satisfy all the requirements of his judgment and taste.”
Not on view
In Collection(s)