When Knights Were Bold
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: "It was early morning. We were driving through rich farmlands in Northern Bavaria, a drizzling rain from the low-hanging clouds cast a depressing heaviness over the countryside. Despite the weather, peasants were busy with the harvest in the fields beside the road, turning from their labors to greet us respectfully as we passed.
label: Description
content: A sharp twist in the road… a clearing vista ahead as a few feeble rays of sunlight began to penetrate the overcast sky. Behold! In a sudden burst of sunlight a gleaming white tower rose high in the distance… a fairy-castle pinnacle which seemed to rest miraculously on a cluster of little houses. What a sight it was midst the otherwise flat and uninteresting country… so breathtaking in its suddenness… unleashing our imagination with its charm. Why, here might be the Sleeping Beauty awaiting to be awakened from her sleep of centuries. Or, here behind the mighty ramparts might be an army besieged… the clash of arms dimmed by time. Yes, here was romance… the glory of the past… when knights were bold.
label: Description
content: Composition:
label: Description
content: Pyramidal. Point of view was selected to achieve a repetition of the pyramidal movement within the composition. The tower was centered and positioned high in the picture area to convey the desired impression of might and lofty dominance over the surrounding subject matter. The dazzling play of light on the tower decided the natural focal point of interest within the picture.
label: Description
content: Technical Approach:
label: Description
content: By the time the picture was taken from close up, the light had become diffused and had spread across the entire picture field. Since I wished to recapture the magnificent first impression as I had viewed the scene from afar, the following was my procedure.
label: Description
content: The houses to the left and right appeared too light from false reflections, and the light balance of the entire scene was scattered, minimizing the power and beauty of the tower. So I had to resort to local reduction, and to give added brilliance to the tower itself in keeping with its importance, I used chalk on the paper negative. Elongation then gave the final measure of towering height, strength and dominance.
label: Description
content: Data:
label: Description
content: Camera: Makina 2 ¼ x 3 ¼
label: Description
content: Lens: Plaubel Anticomar
label: Description
content: Stop: f.8
label: Description
content: Filter: Medium Dark
label: Description
content: Exposure: 1/25 camera in hand
label: Description
content: Film: Agfa Super Plenachrome
label: Description
content: Transparency: 8x10 Eastman Commercial"
label: Description
content: by Adolf Fassbender, 1937
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Germany: Bavaria
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
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content: Adolf Fassbender, Pictorial Artistry
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content: Photography
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PG.004116.03
label: accession number
content: 146001
label: catalog number
content: 4116.03
objectType: label: Object Name
content: photograph
label: Object Name
content: photogravure
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 10 7/8 in x 8 1/8 in; 27.6225 cm x 20.6375 cm