Signs of Spring
Signs of Spring
Usage conditions apply
- Description
- From Pictorial Artistry: The Dramatization of the Beautiful in Photography
- "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.
- Composition:
- 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.
- Technical Problems:
- 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.
- Data:
- Camera: Jewell A 9x12cm
- Lens: Zeiss Tessar
- Stop: f.11
- Filter: Deep Yellow
- Exposure: 1/5 of a second
- Film: Agfa Superpan
- Print: 14x17 Tuma Gas, toned"
- by Adolf Fassbender, 1937
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- photograph
- photogravure
- date made
- before 1937
- maker
- Fassbender, Adolf
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- Measurements
- image: 11 1/8 in x 8 1/4 in; 28.2575 cm x 20.955 cm
- ID Number
- PG.004116.12
- catalog number
- 4116.12
- accession number
- 146001
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Photographic History
- Adolf Fassbender, Pictorial Artistry
- Photography
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Nominate this object for photography.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.
