In Memoriam
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: "Far north on the Gaspe Peninsula (in the Province of Quebec), the people are mostly of French descent and very religious. Here one finds shrines everywhere on the hilltops. It is soon a familiar sight to the traveler and one cannot help but feel the devout spirit of these simple peasant folk. This cross on the hilltop symbolically presents the drama of life and death. On the right side descends the valley of desolation. On the left, the posts seem like pilgrims struggling upwards, one by one, until they reach glorification in death at the Cross. Then darkness falls, thunder and storm, but the cross remains—In Memoriam.
label: Description
content: Composition:
label: Description
content: From all sides the directional lines of the composition converge on the cross avoiding any distraction of interest from this principal motif. The dramatic force of the entire picture area has been intensified by the sharply contrasting light and dark areas, particularly the bright white spot of sky behind the cross. Clawlike, sharply defined clouds reach out over the valley of desolation.
label: Description
content: Technical Problems:
label: Description
content: Because of the onrolling thunderstorm only part of the sky was suitable to the mood of the setting–the rest had to be introduced later. The original sky had all that was needed, but it did not reach the picture field. Light and tone balance was introduced by reduction and groundglass work. The posts going up the hill were only partly there and hardly visible. The upper row had to be put in, and the others emphasized.
label: Description
content: Data:
label: Description
content: Camera: 2 ¼ x 3 ¼ Makina
label: Description
content: Lens: Anticomar
label: Description
content: Stop: f.11
label: Description
content: Filter: Dark Yellow
label: Description
content: Film: Agfa Superpan
label: Description
content: Exposure: 1/5 second, on tripod
label: Description
content: Transparency: 8x10 Eastman Commercial
label: Description
content: Paper Negative: Velour Black N
label: Description
content: Print: 14x17 Gevaluxe"
label: Description
content: by Adolf Fassbender, 1937
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Canada: Quebec
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.004116.17
label: catalog number
content: 4116.17
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 1/2 in x 10 1/2 in; 21.59 cm x 26.67 cm