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F. Holland Day, Untitled (Crucifix with Roman Soldiers), Platinum c. 1898 |
| Imagine that you live in a time when rules are still being made for
what is an appropriate topic for photography and what is not and even
what is good taste and what is not! It is difficult perhaps for us to
look at the work of F. Holland Day with the degree of seriousness that
he certainly felt. Remember as you look that he longs like all the Pictorialists
to have photography seen as art. In art, the grand history paintings
like scenes from the life of Christ were the epitome of accomplishment.
It doesn’t really help us take it seriously when we discover that
he posed for the Christ figure. But Holland was a true romantic and
a dedicated artist striving in the face of the fledging art to express
important feelings and ideas. |