Spring Break
Looking Through the Lens at iconic photography
Issue date: 3/27/08
Photography has faced some of its most drastic changes in the digital age. Even though the medium is well known for the ease in which it can be manipulated and reproduced, the accessibility of Photoshop, the affordability of tiny digital cameras and the ability of the Internet to broadcast pictures to millions of people with minimal effort has altered the face of the genre. It has become harder and harder to tell what is authentic and what has been retouched. At any event - concert, athletic or otherwise - the number of digital cameras snapping candids is dizzying. Cameras are so ubiquitous that even photojournalism, the last true realm of photographers, has ceded to the "amateur journalist." Now it's the fortuitous person with the camera phone in the right place at the right time who gets his or her work flashed across major news stations.
So what about the photographer as artist? The Baltimore Museum of Art has taken some of the most iconic photographs from some of the medium's biggest names (Man Ray, Paul Strand, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Roman Vishniac, Marion Post Wolcott and Dorothea Lange) from 1900 to 1960 for a huge four-room display of beautiful work called Looking Through the Lens.
The exhibit opens with two depictions of early Baltimore by John Schaeffer. The first is a huge panorama of the Inner Harbor from Federal Hill from 1903. Even though the skyline is different and many of its now defining characteristics are absent, it's not hard to recognize the booming city rife with smokestacks and signs of industry. The second photo, of North Calvert Street from Lombard, is harder to relate to. It shows the ruins of the city after the devastating fire of 1904 that wiped out 70 blocks and many of the cities oldest buildings. The juxtaposition of the two photos, the booming city and its darkest hour, reflects the tumultuous cycle of booms and busts that have always plagued Baltimore.
Another piece in the same room is a scrapbook of photos and ink drawings. Five unrelated photos are anchored to the page by the ink drawings that start at their edges and create a scene that ties them all together. It's a stunning piece that creates a beautiful narrative thread between the two mediums.
So what about the photographer as artist? The Baltimore Museum of Art has taken some of the most iconic photographs from some of the medium's biggest names (Man Ray, Paul Strand, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Roman Vishniac, Marion Post Wolcott and Dorothea Lange) from 1900 to 1960 for a huge four-room display of beautiful work called Looking Through the Lens.
The exhibit opens with two depictions of early Baltimore by John Schaeffer. The first is a huge panorama of the Inner Harbor from Federal Hill from 1903. Even though the skyline is different and many of its now defining characteristics are absent, it's not hard to recognize the booming city rife with smokestacks and signs of industry. The second photo, of North Calvert Street from Lombard, is harder to relate to. It shows the ruins of the city after the devastating fire of 1904 that wiped out 70 blocks and many of the cities oldest buildings. The juxtaposition of the two photos, the booming city and its darkest hour, reflects the tumultuous cycle of booms and busts that have always plagued Baltimore.
Another piece in the same room is a scrapbook of photos and ink drawings. Five unrelated photos are anchored to the page by the ink drawings that start at their edges and create a scene that ties them all together. It's a stunning piece that creates a beautiful narrative thread between the two mediums.
Be the first to comment on this story