The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-04-25

not be bagged by any slouchy sportsman.
There is always one certain position in
which a man appears at his best. This one
position the photographer must find, and
that quickly, and seize his opportunity to
take picture the moment the man is in
that position. When Mr.. Wilkie Collins
came to me, l discovered at once a pecul.
iarty of facial expression when he talked
about his own books which was most inter
esting, so while he answered kindly ques
ton or two from me about his "Woman In
White" | made quick exposure. feeling
that | had taken the great novelist at his
best, and so it proved. When he returned
to England, he wrote me; You have taken
just the sort of photograph | like. Those
taken of me over here are perfect libels, but
feel like giving your pictures to all my
friends"
Mark Twain and Sir Edwin Arnold.
The last picture made of Mark Twain
was also a snap shot and was also the best
have taken of him. | met the humorist
on the street. His long iron gray hair tum-
bled over his coat collar and stuck out from
under his hat, giving his head a massive
appearance of the old type of patriarch.
Mark Twain" | said, catching hold of
him, II want you to let NE take your head
just as it is. Don't 20 to the barber until
you see me-" He consented and came to
my studio in few days, when | secured a
photograph of which | am justly proud.
Another instance Sir Edwin Arnold
soon after his arrival here came to me say
ing: "Sarony, want you TO make pho
tograph Of me wherein my nose shall be a
straight nose. The English photographers"
he went on, have never made that feature
look right in my photographs. Now, can
your" l observed him attentively mo-
ment, and then / said, "Sir Edwin, when
you were a baby you sucked your thumb,
pressing your forefinger against the right
side of your nose and making there an in
dentation which to a trained eve is still
perceptible" Then i simply photographed
the left side of Sir Edwin's face instead of
the right side-the side which the English
photographers had evidently insisted upon
taking. have often had people to ask me
which side of a person l usually photo
graph. Then they will add: The right
side, of course. That's always the best side,
| isn't ity" And this absurd statement has
more than once been made by persons whom
/ had every reason TO suppose were perfect
ly sane.
President Cleveland's Last Picture,
| if it is. to be successful, is magnetism. A
silent chord must be struck There must
be harmony or sympathy, or whatever you
may choose to call it, between the sitter
and the photographer. ! myself must be
in perfect sympathy with my subject before
can make good picture. This accounts
for the difference between the first photo
graphs which took Of Mr. Cleveland and
the last. When he first came to sit for nue.,
he was cold, reserved and naughty. Ac.
cordingly the photograph which i made OF
! him bespoke those characteristics. Not SC
the last ones, however for on this occasion
he grasped my hand with great warmth
and said very cordially, Napoleon, / can't
stay away from you" AT last we were
| friendly, and the photographs taken on that
! occasion show the friendliness of the man.
/ Now as to the artistic essentials. In til,
| first place, is the photographer an artist
| This question has been discussed for years
| but we have arrived no nearer to decision
than we were at the beginning, Many per
sons claim that photographers are artists
in picture making and entitled TO tic
same standing rs those who paint on can
vas DebateTs on the negative side argue
that photography, in an aesthetic sense
must stand entirely and unreservedly apart
from painting to almost as great an extent
as sculpture They claim, further, that th'
majority of photographers are not noted fol
their excellence in drawing-most of then
can't draw at all, in fact-and that some
are even color blind, yet can make fairly
artistic photographs
Photography as Fine Art.
As for myself, | agree that photography
Is an aesthetic art when confined to its lie
climate purpose and practiced by men o
artistic knowledge and skill. A photog
rapher who possesses these requirements Il
an artist in his profession, just as is a paint
er in the profession of painting. 1t amount
TO simply this; The photographer who i
also an artist will surely make the hes
photograph. | have been asked to wha
one thing attribute my success In photog
raphyY reply, because | am an artist first
The more artistic taste that can be brough
into photography the better will 1t be TO
the photographers.