Question 1

Where can I see Alvin Langdon Coburn's work?

Accepted Answer

Alvin Langdon Coburn's work can be viewed in several locations in the United States and the United Kingdom. In the United States, these include the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (Winter Park, Florida), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Minneapolis), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond), and the Wolfsonian at Florida International University (Miami Beach).

In the United Kingdom, you can find his work at the Bakelite Museum (Williton), Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (Brighton), the Geffrye Museum (London), Manchester Art Gallery (Manchester), the National Museums of Scotland, Royal Museum (Edinburgh), and the Victoria & Albert Museum (London).

Question 2

What should I know about Alvin Langdon Coburn's prints?

Accepted Answer

Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882-1966) was a British photographer. When considering Coburn's prints, it is helpful to know some basic terminology. A 'vintage print' is made around the time the negative was taken. A 'period print' is made within roughly 10 to 15 years after the shot. Any print made later than that is termed an 'old print'. A 'modern print' is a recent print from the original negative. An 'original print' is one the artist made or directly supervised. A 'facsimile' is a print made by re-photographing a print, or using the original negative, with base and processing as close as possible to the vintage print. Coburn gifted prints to the Royal Photographic Society (RPS). A platinum print of Frederick H. Evans is labelled 'With Bernard Shaw's Compliments'. Coburn's prints include images of Westminster Abbey and Durham Cathedral, both from 1911.

Question 3

Why are Alvin Langdon Coburn's works important today?

Accepted Answer

Alvin Langdon Coburn was an important figure in the development of photography as a fine art. He was part of the Photo-Secession, a group spearheaded by Alfred Stieglitz that promoted photography as a medium of individual expression. Coburn joined the group between 1902 and 1904, alongside other notable photographers such as Edward Steichen and Gertrude Kasebier.

Stieglitz provided a platform for Coburn's work through exhibitions at camera clubs, art museums, international fairs, and other venues in both the United States and Europe. Stieglitz also published *Camera Work* in 1903, a journal devoted to "the furtherance of modern photography".

Coburn's association with the Photo-Secession and his contributions to *Camera Work* helped to establish photography as a legitimate art form, distinct from mere documentation. Later in his career, Coburn gifted a collection of his prints to the Royal Photographic Society. His work, and the efforts of those around him, helped increase the recognition of photography as an artistic medium.

Question 4

Who was Alvin Langdon Coburn?

Accepted Answer

Alvin Langdon Coburn was a photographer born in Boston in 1882. He joined Alfred Stieglitz's Photo-Secession group and became known as a portraitist and a photographer of modern cities.

Question 5

What techniques or materials did Alvin Langdon Coburn use?

Accepted Answer

Alvin Langdon Coburn was an early 20th-century photographer associated with Pictorialism. This movement favoured soft focus and painterly effects. Coburn often manipulated his negatives and prints to achieve these artistic results.

One technique Coburn employed was the use of the soft-focus lens. This lens blurred the image, creating a dreamy, atmospheric quality. He also experimented with gum bichromate printing, a process that allowed for extensive manual manipulation of the print surface. This gave his photographs a unique, handcrafted feel, setting them apart from purely mechanical reproductions.

In 1916 and 1917, Coburn created a series of abstract photographs he called "vortographs". To make these images, he used a kaleidoscope-like instrument he invented, which he named the vortoscope. This device allowed him to fracture and rearrange reality into geometric patterns. Coburn's vortographs are among the earliest examples of abstract photography. They demonstrate his willingness to experiment with new technologies and push the boundaries of the medium.

Question 6

Who did Alvin Langdon Coburn influence?

Accepted Answer

Alvin Langdon Coburn is generally associated with an impulsion towards abstraction in photography in the early 20th century. In his 1916 essay, 'The Future of Pictorial Photography', he advocated for photographic works that privileged design over subject matter. Coburn's idea, called 'abstract photography', proposed to liberate photographers from the limitations of mimesis, so they could focus on 'expressing the inexpressible'. Coburn referenced Henri Matisse, Igor Stravinsky, Gertrude Stein, and Cubist painter-poet Max Weber, encouraging photographers to embrace modernity.

His experimental black-and-white photographs often lacked easily discernible subject matter. His Vortograph, produced around 1917, is a canonical example of early abstract and experimental photography. Later abstract photographers, such as Aaron Siskind, Minor White, and Barbara Morgan, drew inspiration from Abstract Expressionism.

Question 7

Who influenced Alvin Langdon Coburn?

Accepted Answer

Alvin Langdon Coburn was influenced by several figures in the artistic photography movement. As a teenager, Coburn met F. Holland Day in Boston in 1898. Day became his mentor and encouraged Coburn's artistic development.

Coburn also drew inspiration from the Photo-Secession group, founded by Alfred Stieglitz in 1902. This group promoted photography as a fine art form. Coburn was elected as a member of the Photo-Secession in 1904. He exhibited with them and contributed to their journal, Camera Work.

The painter James McNeill Whistler also impacted Coburn's aesthetic. Whistler's emphasis on tonal harmonies and atmospheric effects resonated with Coburn. This influence is visible in Coburn's early pictorialist photographs, which often feature soft focus and carefully arranged compositions. Coburn's association with these individuals and movements shaped his artistic vision and contributed to his success as a photographer.

Question 8

What is Alvin Langdon Coburn's most famous work?

Accepted Answer

Alvin Langdon Coburn is well known for his photographs of early 20th-century urban life and celebrity portraits. However, he is perhaps best remembered for his series of abstract photographs called "Vortographs".

In 1916, Coburn created these images using a kaleidoscope-like instrument he invented called a Vortoscope. This device, which used three mirrors clamped together, allowed him to fracture and multiply the image of a subject. The name "Vortograph" derives from Vorticism, an English avant-garde movement. Ezra Pound, a poet and Vorticism supporter, encouraged Coburn in this new direction.

Coburn only made about sixteen Vortographs between 1916 and 1917. These include portraits of Pound and other figures from the Vorticist circle, such as the artist Wyndham Lewis. "Ezra Pound", Vortograph (1916) is among the most recognisable. Other subjects include architectural studies and still-life arrangements. Although Coburn returned to more conventional photography later in his career, the Vortographs remain a unique and important contribution to the history of abstract photography.

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