In His Kingdom
date: label: date made
content: before 1937
name: label: maker
content: Fassbender, Adolf
notes: label: Description
content: Meet the King of Swans, on guard in all his militant beauty… gracefully alert to any approaching danger; for his Queen is nesting on the pond’s far edge, and he must protect her.
label: Description
content: At such a time the King looks his best, unaware that his very bearing and manner has made him the perfect subject for the camera pictorialist.
label: Description
content: I was not along when I happened on the King of Swans. But because I knew from previous experience the requirements of cautious posing necessary to achieve a successful swan picture, I solicited the cooperation of my companions. I explained that I would take the King’s picture a hundred feet or so further on, where the sunlight silvered the leaves on the branch of a tree that dipped gracefully to the water’s edge.
label: Description
content: All withdrew at my suggestion from the pond’s edge, with the exception of myself and one other, who was to follow certain prearranged signals unknown to the others. For I knew that as my fellow conspirator approached the water’s edge, the King would glide closer to shore ready to combat any encroachment on his domain. Likewise I knew that he would withdraw as the person withdrew, and follow suspiciously every move made.
label: Description
content: From <i>Pictorial Artistry: The Dramatization of the Beautiful in Photography</i>
label: Description
content: "By such maneuvering I made twelve exposures of the King in the setting I wished, maintaining all the time the illusion that the swan actually understood and followed my directions, as I would say—“Come along, Swan. Now turn around… No! No!... turn back again. Now come nearer to me. Turn to the side. Hold it! Thank you”.
label: Description
content: It was all such fun. Later, when the picture-taking was over and I revealed the how and why of my “stage directions” hoax, everyone was greatly amused.
label: Description
content: Composition:
label: Description
content: Circular. The shore, the overhanging branch, the reflections, and the eddies are arranged so as to form a continuous movement rotating around the Swan.
label: Description
content: Technical Approach:
label: Description
content: The picture was taken against a low sun. The light was weak and contrasty [sic] because of the high trees. The depth of focus of the large camera was shallow, and an exposure of 1/25 was required. Accordingly, I had to anticipate any movement the swan might make. Contrast in the negative had to be corrected by local reduction. Excessive reflections were removed by etching.
label: Description
content: Data:
label: Description
content: Camera: Zeiss Maximar 9x12cm
label: Description
content: Lens: Tessar 13.5cm
label: Description
content: Stop: f.8
label: Description
content: Exposure: 1/25 in hand
label: Description
content: Film: Agfa Super Plenach"
label: Description
content: by Adolf Fassbender, 1937
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
label: See more items in
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.004116.33
label: catalog number
content: 4116.33
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: 8 1/8 in x 10 1/2 in; 20.6375 cm x 26.67 cm