#Rejlander the two ways of life professional

Rejlander holds an important place in the history of photography primarily because of the groundbreaking way he applied the technique of combination printing. Charles Darwin illustrated many of RejlanderвЂ™s expressive photographs in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872.Д¬ombination Printing and Two Ways of Life In addition to this technique, Rejlander often exploited his own unique ability to enact exaggerated emotions to assist his subjects. The pupils of the sittersвЂ™ eyes expanded, allowing for вЂњmore depth and expression,вЂќ as a writer observed in Photographic News. In 1863 Rejlander constructed a unique iron, wood, and glass вЂњtunnel studio,вЂќ where the sitter, positioned in the open, light-filled part of the studio, would look into the darker part of the room where the camera and operator were situated, nearly invisible. Like a modern street photographer, Rejlander chose his compositions and subjects based on what he saw and heard, realizing the final images in the studio.

It was through his staged domestic images that he illustrated familial relationships with tenderness and humor, often using models and props to re-create in his studio the scenes he had witnessed in the streets, from young boys who swept up dirt and debris in exchange for tips, to street vendors such as вЂњflower girlsвЂќ who offered bouquets for sale to passersby. ДЇrom the beginning of his career as a photographer, Rejlander was keenly interested in depicting the activities of ordinary people, particularly the middle and lower classes of society. He also guided the first photographic efforts of the writer and mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (known as Lewis Carroll), the creator of AliceвЂ™s Adventures in Wonderland, as well as photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. Rejlander photographed some of the most important figures of the day, including the English scientist Charles Darwin, known for his theory of evolution, and poets Alfred Lord Tennyson and Henry Taylor. Art critics and clients alike admired his skill with lighting as well as the natural and seemingly spontaneous expressions he was able to capture.

#Rejlander the two ways of life professional

Portraiture, particularly of members of the higher ranks of London society, was RejlanderвЂ™s main professional activity and supported his livelihood. Rejlander moved to London in 1862, where his business continued to grow and where his wife, Mary Bull, worked alongside him in his photography studios. He made a living as a portrait photographer while experimenting with photographic techniques, most notably combination printing, in which parts of multiple negatives were exposed separately and then printed to form a single picture. Rejlander was born in Sweden and moved to England in 1839, working first as a painter before turning to photography in 1852.

His photographs, though made a century and a half ago, are both meticulously of their time and timeless, foreshadowing many later achievements of the medium through to the digital age.вЂќ вЂњWhile technologies have dramatically changed, some of the fundamental issues that Rejlander grappled with in his photographs still resonate with photographic practice today. вЂњRejlander tells us in his writings that вЂIt is the mind of the artist, and not the nature of his materials, which makes his production a work of art,вЂ™вЂќ says Timothy Potts, director of the J. The exhibition features 150 photographs that demonstrate RejlanderвЂ™s remarkable range, from landscapes and portraits to allegories and witty commentaries on contemporary society, alongside a selection of his early paintings, drawings, and prints. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, Los Angeles, is the first exhibition to explore the prolific career of the artist who became known as вЂњthe father of art photography,вЂќ and whose bold experimentation with photographic techniques early in the mediumвЂ™s development and keen understanding of human emotion were ahead of their time. Oscar Rejlander: Artist Photographer, on view March 12-Jat the J. Nevertheless, the extent of RejlanderвЂ™s work and career has often been overlooked. Rejlander (British, born Sweden, 1813-1875) was one of the 19th centuryвЂ™s greatest innovators in the medium of photography, counting Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Charles Darwin, Lewis Carroll and Julia Margaret Cameron among his devotees.