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P.H. Emerson
A Reed-Cutter at Work

1886

$8,500
£6,455.96
€7,458.77
CA$11,913.06
A$13,332.95
CHF 6,958.78
MX$162,593.28
NOK 89,062.86
SEK 84,309.40
DKK 55,663.78
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About the Item

A Reed-Cutter at Work [Plate XXV from the Album, Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads], 1886 Vintage Platinum/Palladium Print Mount 16 1/8 x 11 3/8 inches; Image 11 1/8 x 8 inches Titled and variously numbered in pencil on mount verso The English photographer, Peter Henry Emerson, promoted photography as an independent art form and created an aesthetic theory called “naturalistic photography.” Trained as a physician, Emerson first began to photograph as part of an anthropological study of the peasants and fishermen of East Anglia. These black-and-white photographs, published in books such as Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads (1886) and Pictures of East Anglian Life (1888), are an intimate documentation of rural English life in the late 19th century. Emerson soon became convinced that photography was a medium of artistic expression superior to all other black-and-white graphic media because it reproduces the light, tones, and textures of nature with unrivaled fidelity. He believed that a photograph should be direct and simple and show real people in their own environment, not costumed models posed before fake backdrops or other such predetermined formulas. Emerson’s early views on the nature of photography remained influential and formed the rationale of much 20th-century photography.
  • Creator:
    P.H. Emerson (1856 - 1936)
  • Creation Year:
    1886
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 16.125 in (40.96 cm)Width: 11.375 in (28.9 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Santa Monica, CA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU142105733

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