Naslov
Nineteenth century Dalmatia inverted in the camera: photographic glass plate negatives by Franz Thiard de Laforest

Autori
Gržina, Hrvoje

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Poglavlja u knjigama, znanstveni

Knjiga
Discovering Dalmatia: Dalmatia in travelogues, images, and photographs

Urednik/ci
O’Loughlin, Katrina ; Šverko, Ana ; Wittich, Elke Katharina

Izdavač
Institut za povijest umjetnosti

Grad
Zagreb

Godina
2019

Raspon stranica
250-277

ISBN
978-953-7875-46-6

Ključne riječi
Franz Thiard de Laforest ; Dalmatia ; photography ; negatives

Sažetak
The activities of photographer Franz Laforest on the eastern Adriatic coast during the second half of the nineteenth century are already well known to the academic and professional public. His book Spalato und Seine Alterthümer [Split and its Ancient Monuments, Split 1878] and the fragmentarily preserved Album von Dalmatien [Album of Dalmatia, Kotor 1898] are today regarded as commonplaces of early Croatian photography and valuable sources for studying the history of Dalmatia. However, it is a lesser-known fact that some of his original glass plate negatives have also been preserved, as well as a certain number of smaller copy negatives made for various purposes. In addition to providing a unique insight into the appearance of Dalmatian cities and cultural monuments during the last decades of the nineteenth century, these objects also serve as testaments to the development of the photographic technologies and various creative techniques that Laforest used in order to present his vision of Dalmatia to the public in the best possible way. Moreover, several motifs can be found in them that have so far been unknown in the positive prints, which supplement the totality of the image of “Laforest’s Dalmatia”. This paper – based on the study of negatives as objects of material culture generated directly in the camera at the real-life scene, and following the spatial- temporal dynamics of Laforest’s photographic production – shed new light on his work. Additionally, the tonal and spatial inversion of the negative image provides a new perspective on nineteenth century Dalmatia, on the region in which this photographer was active for nearly half a century.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest, Povijest umjetnosti

POVEZANOST RADA