В архива на George Eastman House се съхранява колекция от 825 фотографии от България. Техен автор е Chusseau Flaviens, като снимките обхващат първите две десетилетия на 20 век. Включени са основно изображения на царското семейство, българската армия и балканските войни, както и гледки от различни български градове.
В свое изследване специалистите от архива се опитват да установят подробности за живота и дейността на фотографа. Там се посочва следното:
Among the many collections that form the International Museum of Photography is one comprising over ten thousand glass plate negatives, the gift of Kodak Pathe. They are predominantly the creation of one man, the Frenchman C. Chusseau Flaviens. Whatever factual knowledge we possess about him is practically stated with his name. Much of the rest is conjecture and deduction, except that he must have been in operation in the years immediately preceding World War I.
Even the documentation on the plates themselves is sparse, in a hen-scratch writing. A date is a rarity, and when Flaviens signs his name, it is an occasion.
Recently George Dimock, an intern working at the museum, addressed his attention to this extraordinary collection, creating modern prints from the old glass plates, and hoping to bring, as he wrote, "this body of work into the mainstream of photographic history in the form of modern prints and accompanying research."
The "accompanying research" was to prove baffling. No dates of birth or death could be established for Flaviens, nor do we even know the city out of which he mainly worked. Dimock based his observations on the negatives alone.
The dazzling richness and diversity of the Flaviens collection can only be hinted at in the selection which follows. It encompasses virtually all of Europe and much of her far-flung colonial empire in the last days of her hegemony just prior to 1914, the Far East (China, Tibet and Indochina), the Near East (Egypt, Turkey and Palestine) and North Africa (Morocco, Abyssinia and Tunisia). Within Europe herself, no major nation is excluded. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Serbia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, are all extensively documented. The photographer's homeland, France, is largely missing. Madame Boichard, former curator of the museum at Kodak Pathe, believes there remains to be discovered a second collection of the work Flaviens did in his own country.
The scope of Flaviens' travels is matched by what must have been impeccable social credentials. He photographs most of the crowned heads of Europe, their extended families, the foremost politicians, and leading celebrities of the day. George V of England, Alfonso XIII of Spain, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Presidents Loubet, Faillieres and Poincare of France are only a few of the most prominent. Flaviens records all the pageantry of a sovereign's progress among his people, but is also allowed access to his royal subjects in the privacy of their domestic settings. There is a casual spontaneity to many of these images which suggests an intimacy far beyond the reach of the average itinerant photographer.
Flaviens frequents the favorite summer resorts of the upper crust: San Sebastian in Spain, Ostende in Belgium, Bayreuth in Germany, the Isle of Wight in England. The seaside crowds, the outdoor concerts, and gala parades are all recorded. He surveys the military scene throughout Europe, photographing exhaustively all the various branches of her armies and navies as if in anticipation of the great war that was soon to come...
http://image.eastmanhouse.org/files/GEH_1978_21_01.pdf
В блога ще представим фотографиите на София, които ще публикуваме в няколко поредни теми. За начало ще започнем с общи и познати гледки.
Зимна София (снимка, която вече сме публикували тук)
В свое изследване специалистите от архива се опитват да установят подробности за живота и дейността на фотографа. Там се посочва следното:
Among the many collections that form the International Museum of Photography is one comprising over ten thousand glass plate negatives, the gift of Kodak Pathe. They are predominantly the creation of one man, the Frenchman C. Chusseau Flaviens. Whatever factual knowledge we possess about him is practically stated with his name. Much of the rest is conjecture and deduction, except that he must have been in operation in the years immediately preceding World War I.
Even the documentation on the plates themselves is sparse, in a hen-scratch writing. A date is a rarity, and when Flaviens signs his name, it is an occasion.
Recently George Dimock, an intern working at the museum, addressed his attention to this extraordinary collection, creating modern prints from the old glass plates, and hoping to bring, as he wrote, "this body of work into the mainstream of photographic history in the form of modern prints and accompanying research."
The "accompanying research" was to prove baffling. No dates of birth or death could be established for Flaviens, nor do we even know the city out of which he mainly worked. Dimock based his observations on the negatives alone.
The dazzling richness and diversity of the Flaviens collection can only be hinted at in the selection which follows. It encompasses virtually all of Europe and much of her far-flung colonial empire in the last days of her hegemony just prior to 1914, the Far East (China, Tibet and Indochina), the Near East (Egypt, Turkey and Palestine) and North Africa (Morocco, Abyssinia and Tunisia). Within Europe herself, no major nation is excluded. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Serbia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, are all extensively documented. The photographer's homeland, France, is largely missing. Madame Boichard, former curator of the museum at Kodak Pathe, believes there remains to be discovered a second collection of the work Flaviens did in his own country.
The scope of Flaviens' travels is matched by what must have been impeccable social credentials. He photographs most of the crowned heads of Europe, their extended families, the foremost politicians, and leading celebrities of the day. George V of England, Alfonso XIII of Spain, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Presidents Loubet, Faillieres and Poincare of France are only a few of the most prominent. Flaviens records all the pageantry of a sovereign's progress among his people, but is also allowed access to his royal subjects in the privacy of their domestic settings. There is a casual spontaneity to many of these images which suggests an intimacy far beyond the reach of the average itinerant photographer.
Flaviens frequents the favorite summer resorts of the upper crust: San Sebastian in Spain, Ostende in Belgium, Bayreuth in Germany, the Isle of Wight in England. The seaside crowds, the outdoor concerts, and gala parades are all recorded. He surveys the military scene throughout Europe, photographing exhaustively all the various branches of her armies and navies as if in anticipation of the great war that was soon to come...
http://image.eastmanhouse.org/files/GEH_1978_21_01.pdf
В блога ще представим фотографиите на София, които ще публикуваме в няколко поредни теми. За начало ще започнем с общи и познати гледки.
Зимна София (снимка, която вече сме публикували тук)
Катедралата "Св. Александър Невски"
Военният клуб
Джамията "Баня Баши"
Външно министерство
Военното министерство
Народният театър
Софийската гара
Църквата "Света Неделя"
