Before the Storm
date: label: date made
content: before 1937
name: label: maker
content: Fassbender, Adolf
notes: label: Description
content: From <i>Pictorial Artistry: The Dramatization of the Beautiful in Photography</i>
label: Description
content: "Along the southern coast of Nova Scotia farming is difficult and of small reward, because of the stony and poor soil. Here we see the typical terrain. Against an almost black sky on the left, and a weird glow on the right, the struggling farmer presents a rather tragic sight. He is making haste to bring in the hay before the deluge which, no doubt, would wash his harvest down the sloping hill to the sea.
label: Description
content: It was a grim paraphrase of purpose between the rushing farmer on the one side and the more rushing Pictorialist on the other trying to get his picture… One fighting against the loss of his livelihood, and the other against the loss of a beautiful, dramatic picture.
label: Description
content: Composition:
label: Description
content: The principal purpose of the picture is to show the drama and tenseness caused by the approaching storm. Because the figure of the man tended to monopolize attention, it was necessary to subordinate the figure in keeping with the surrounding elements of the composition. He faces the storm from the lower left corner, his fork and hay pointing to the storm, a leading line following from the tip of the hay along the shore to the storm center. Low tone and low placing of the farmer in the picture field adds to the dominance of the storm area.
label: Description
content: Technical Problems:
label: Description
content: Due to the farmer’s haste the picture had to be taken almost on the run, against adverse light conditions. Because position of the figure was very important, I had to manoeuver fast to secure the right pose with a comparatively slow exposure. Three interesting pictures were obtained in a few minutes that way. To intensify the feeling of the atmospheric disturbance, texture was emphasized by the use of rough grained paper negative.
label: Description
content: Data:
label: Description
content: Camera: 2 ¼ x 3 ¼ Makina
label: Description
content: Lens: Plaubel Anticomar
label: Description
content: Stop: f.8
label: Description
content: Film: Agfa Super Plenachrome
label: Description
content: Exposure: 1/25, in hand
label: Description
content: Transparency: 8x10 Eastman Commercial
label: Description
content: Paper negative: 14x17 Velour Black F
label: Description
content: Print: Defender Veltura"
label: Description
content: by Adolf Fassbender, 1937
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Canada: Nova Scotian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
label: See more items in
content: Adolf Fassbender, Pictorial Artistry
label: See more items in
content: Photography
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PG.004116.29
label: catalog number
content: 4116.29
label: accession number
content: 146001
objectType: label: Object Name
content: photograph
label: Object Name
content: photogravure
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 7 3/4 in x 10 3/8 in; 19.685 cm x 26.3525 cm