Signs of Spring
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: "Blossom time—thin, graceful branches swaying in the gentle breeze, the little white flowers like thousands of fluttering butterflies, dance about, enjoying the first warm rays of spring. They also warm the heart of the eager pictorialist who had exhausted his skill trying to photograph beautiful things in bleak winter. It is Dogwood in bloom, one of the most rewarding subjects with which to play in blossom time. Tiny, transparent, and bright green leaves were just sprouting, intermingling with the sparkling flowers.
label: Description
content: Composition:
label: Description
content: A delicate Japanese design against a soothing blue sky. The various treetops, a repetition in different shapes of other Dogwood flowers, were permitted in the lower part of the picture, first, to lend height to the real motive, and second, to provide for a base in the picture. Without them the composition would be top-heavy. The radiation of curved lines from the main stem forms the foundation of the charming design.
label: Description
content: Technical Problems:
label: Description
content: There were other branches interfering in the upper left section of the picture. They had to be removed by making a composite negative first, followed by additional retouching, etc., filling in the corner with plain sky. This gave the branch and design more freedom. The swaying of the tree would not allow a small diaphragm stop and long exposure. Waiting for the wind to abate was a trial on my patience. The exposure had to be made at the end of the sway, the dead point where momentum stops. Each white flower was emphasized by retouching.
label: Description
content: Data:
label: Description
content: Camera: Jewell A 9x12cm
label: Description
content: Lens: Zeiss Tessar
label: Description
content: Stop: f.11
label: Description
content: Filter: Deep Yellow
label: Description
content: Exposure: 1/5 of a second
label: Description
content: Film: Agfa Superpan
label: Description
content: Print: 14x17 Tuma Gas, toned"
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
label: See more items in
content: Photography
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PG.004116.12
label: catalog number
content: 4116.12
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: 11 1/8 in x 8 1/4 in; 28.2575 cm x 20.955 cm