Courtney 1 Knox E375L Bump TTH 2-3:30 24 February 2005 Avante Guard Dear Reverend Dodgson, My name is Courtney Knox, and I am a student at the University of Texas at Austin and it is the year 2005. I am a double major in English literature and Spanish language, but my true passion is photography, which is why I am writing to you. Now, please don't be frightened by the man in the silver suit that delivered this letter to you. He is my friend Alfred who has developed a time machine so he could travel all through time. Since he has this ability, I asked him if he would play messenger for a bit and bring you my letter. I would have brought it myself, but I have really bad stomach problems, and I don't think my intestines would stand up to the time warp. I am taking a Victorian Literature class this semester at U.T. and we are going to be studying your Alice in Wonderland book (that continues to be a huge success I must tell you), but my interest lies in your groundbreaking photography skills. I spent the greater part of my Monday afternoon at a local museum thumbing through many of your original prints that have been preserved throughout the years. It truly was an honor to hold your art in my hands Sir- it was a surreal experience to be so close to the photos that I had studied for so long in books. It reminded me of the first time I saw Picasso's Guernica in person at the museum in Madrid. It was as if the art came to life right before my eyes. I have
2 done a lot of research about your life and read that you are always willing to take on new students1, so I was wondering if you would be interested in allowing me the honor of studying under you by way of the time traveling messenger, Alfred. He already told me that he would be more than willing to play mailman between us due to the fact that he deeply enjoys the Victorian era in which you live and could find many ways to amuse himself while you respond to my letters. Now, in order for an artist/apprentice relationship to work, I feel as though we should have a few important things in common. I did a little background research on you and this is what I learned (but please correct me if my sources are incorrect). First of all, you search for beauty in all things, whether it is math, science or art and desire to expose this beauty. Your affinity for math led you to a fellowship at Christ Church at Oxford-- a highly esteemed university in both our times-- where you were for about twenty-five years.2 When I read this, I was very confused due to the fact that I have absolutely NO talent for math whatsoever. I can hardly add and subtract. I guess it's just hard for me to see how someone who is so adept at mathematics can also be so in tune with his artistic and creative side. Then I read that you weren't very good at drawing, which gave me a lot of comfort because I am most definitely lacking skills in drawing. Perhaps that is why I like to take pictures so much. That way I can still capture and exhibit the beauty that I see in the world, only I don't have to draw or paint. It must be your love for gadgets and other mechanical devices that drew you to this art. The alchemy of developing
1
Cohen, Morton N. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Continental Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer. P.10. 2 Cohen, Morton N. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Continental Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer. P.11.
3 solutions would be especially interesting to someone like yourself, but I honestly do not understand how you had the patience to constantly deal with the wet collodion method of picture taking, it's so fragile and easily ruined, I don't think I would have ever managed to complete a picture process. You started taking pictures at the age of twenty-four, I started at the age of fourteen. You were first exposed to photography when your uncle came to visit your family and brought his new camera with him. You were also influenced by your fellow photophile (if you will endure the pun) friend Reginald Southey who attended Christ Church with you. I too love pictures, and it is a lot of fun because my best friend, Keely Orr also shoots, so I get to learn a lot from her when we share our experiences. You carry your cumbersome camera and all of the necessary equipment with you everywhere during your travels throughout Britain, and I do the same, but I must admit that my burden is much lighter due to great advances in technology throughout the years. You must have been deeply passionate about the art to lug around all of that equipment all of the time. I read that when you first started taking pictures, you dabbled a little in landscape, architecture and sculpture photography but settled on portraiture due to the natural realism that you could achieve by that means. I am having a very hard time deciding what kind of photography I want to focus on because I deeply love them all. I think landscapes are incredible, architecture is fascinating, and fashion is exhilarating but there's just something about portraiture... I don't know what it is, but those rare moments you capture when a person truly allows their candid self to be revealed are so precious and beautiful to me. In all honesty, you are kind of the master of doing this, which is why I want
4 your guidance in my photographic education. I think that your collection of photographs of children is stunning in their complex simplicity. The children seem so natural and comfortable in their surroundings, it's amazing- almost as if you just sort of placed them in front of the camera and took a picture whenever you felt they were being honest with the lens. In some of the pictures the children seem somewhat unkempt or even disheveled, but I feel like that was all right with you because that's who kids really are. One of the things I want to learn from you is how to have a single picture tell an entire story with only the photograph and the title. So many of your pictures of the children do this, and I think it is such an incredible gift you have that I would love to learn. One fun example of this is the picture of the sister feeding cherries to each other.
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You titled this your mouth eyes" and I because I feel these young playing each other perfectly
piece "Open and shut your just love that as though girls were just around with and you captured this
moment of their fun. They don't even seem to notice that there is a camera in front
3
Cohen, Morton N. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Continental Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer. P.63.
5 of them and go on their merry way of cherry eating. You took this picture of the Liddell sisters in July of 1860 when they were still quite young and playful. You can tell that Lorina, the oldest, is maintaining her elderly role by keeping control of the situation with the cherry in her hand, feeding it to her younger sister Alice who seems to be struggling somewhat to acquire the treat. Edith, the youngest, is behind the two of them holding the cherries and seems to be longing to be a part of the fun. They all three wear pure white dresses that imply the purity of youth and innocence that I think you so desire to encapsulate in your photographs. Morton N. Cohen writes, "He loved the child's unspoiled, untutored naturalness and what he saw as her closeness to God."4 There are so many of your pictures that I love, it's hard to pick only a few to discuss... The fact that you did a lot of experimentation with lighting is very evident in many of your shots that still today remain due to the contrast of darkness and light and shadow. The photo that you took of Alice Liddell as the little "Beggar Girl" is just beautiful. It very well may be one of my favorites. I can't even explain why, but this picture is just captivating to me. First of all, the scene is so simple: little girl dressed in all white rags stands in a filthy corner with her small hand extended for generous offerings.
4
Cohen, Morton N. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Continental Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer. P.15.
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Even though she is begging for money, she maintains direct eye contact with the camera and has her left arm cocked on her hip as if she has a lot of attitude and is not ashamed off her place in life. The contrast of her white dress and the black wall insinuates that she is the object of purity surrounded by the dirt and filth of the outside world, yet remains generally unaffected by it.
5
Cohen, Morton N. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Continental Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer. P.59.
7 In my humble opinion, you have a very special gift for capturing the beautiful honesty of the children that sit for you. Morton Cohen writes, By some magical combination of memory and intuition, he understands what it is like to be a child in a grown-up society. He could instinctively speak a child's language, capture his young friends; interest, engage them in conversation, move them, and best of all, evoke peals of laughter from them. He treated children, both in his books and in real life, as equals.6 I mean, what child wouldn't absolutely love to get all dressed up and pose in front of the camera while playing make-believe? One of the most impressive photos that comes to mind is the photo of "The Dream."
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Reverend Carroll, how in such a limited the actual inner camera could
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the world with knowledge of workings of a you possibly
Cohen, Morton N. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Continental Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer. P.15. 7 Cohen, Morton N. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Continental Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer. P.129.
8 know how to double expose the film to give the shot a ghostly effect? That just blows my mind and is a huge part of the reason that I think you are so avante guard in your photography. It's a little hard to see in the picture I have provided for you, but the little boy really does look like a ghost because the photo on the wall shows right through his body-- very well done Sir. The Berry children must have had so much fun during this shoot, the little brother as a ghost creeping up on his sister while she sleeps, it's perfect in it's realistic simplicity. I don't really have anything else intelligent to say about it other than the fact that I am so unbelievably impressed by this piece.
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I noticed
that you did not really take
a lot of pictures of adults (of course with the exception of some of your contemporaries like Alfred Lord Tennyson, John Ruskin and then many family members) but the shot above does indeed have an adult in it but still stays true to
8
Cohen, Morton N. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Continental Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer. P.108.
9 your technique and style and still displays your preference for children as subject and focal point of the photo. Sweet little Agnes Hughes sits in the lap of her father the painter Arthur Hughes. The color contrast of their clothing is immediately evident. While he is wearing light colors, the dark jacket dominates his torso where she stands, so it clearly stands out against the solid whiteness of her little dress. Her hair flows in soft curls while his hair appears rough and dominates his face, further obscuring it from view. He is turned to the side and appears almost as a prop for the angel in his lap who holds his hand and faces the camera straight on with an authoritative stare. Ok, enough of me gushing over your work, I just wanted to show you that I do have a thorough knowledge of your accomplishments and talent and am able to identify the beauty that you have given us through your art. In an article entitled "Some Other Occupation," Roger Taylor writes, "No other photographer was able to capture so perfectly the essence of Victorian childhood, filled as it was by a mixture of vulnerability and play, navet and self-awareness."9 This is very true sir, and it is also an amazing style that I would be unbelievably honored to learn. I suppo...