La Fazenda

In doing my research on Nelson Evans, I've gained an appreciation for photographs of the first quarter of the 20th century.  Although the silver gelatin process was in common use for black and white pictures up until 50 years ago, those from a century back have a quality that is missing from later examples.  Quite simply, they glow.  While I have many examples in my collection, I've chosen this one of Louise Fazenda because, well, it's Louise Fazenda!

 

I'm not sure how well it will show up here, but the lacing on her dress practically sparkles on the actual photo.  How much control Evans had over this type of effect is difficult to say, but it is more pronounced in his earlier photos.  BTW, notice the window on the left side of the photo.  It appears to be cut from another photo and added here, probably covering up a blown-out section where the sunlight was coming in.  A bit awkwardly done, but not bad for a hundred years ago. 

   

Photo Hunting at Cinecon

  Last week I attended my first Cinecon, the long-running movie convention held in Hollywood (this was the 51st one).  While the main focus of the convention is the great films that are shown at the historic Egyptian Theatre, I was equally interested in the dealers rooms, with the hope of finding a few Evans photographs to add to my collection.  Although there were far fewer dealers than one would find at the Cinevent convention here in Columbus, there was one who was selling vintage photos.  Out of the dozens of Evans pictures they had, I purchased seven.  Some I bought because they caught my eye, others because the actor was of interest.

The first one I bought (I made 3 buying trips over the weekend) was this one of Louise Fazenda.  I had been hoping to find a copy of this particular photo, so that's why I got it first.  It most likely dates from 1917-18.

 Another full-body portrait I purchased was this one of Laura La Plante.  This one dates from the beginning of her career when she was working for Christie Studio, again around 1917-18.

For some forgotten reason, I had hoped to find a photo of Pauline Frederick.  Perhaps it was because there's something timeless about her.  In any case, of the two that I found, this is the one I came away with.

Wallace Beery was another one on my want list.  Nothing fancy, but that's a great mustache.

Although I wasn't looking for a photo of Wanda Hawley, it was those ubiquitous pine branches that won me over.  They also appeared in photos of Marie Prevost, Mary Pickford, and Mary Miles Minter, among many others.

The last two I bought for aesthetic reasons.  Evans was at his best when he played with light.  This striking photo of Gladys Brookwell seems to be lit with sunlight.

Finally, here is a photo of Monroe Salisbury in his costume for the movie The Barbarian.  Just one light, but it works perfectly.

Is it an Evans?

One of the more frustrating aspects of researching a photographer is coming upon photographs that seem like their work, but are unsigned or unattributed.  In going through the many magazines found on the extremely valuable Media History Digital Library website (mediahistoryproject.org), it's not uncommon to find such a photo that makes me wonder if it could be an Evans.  Every photographer has a certain style, but it is clear from looking at the work of the many Hollywood photographers of the day that they borrowed ideas freely from one another.  It's next to impossible to say who was taking from whom, but some of the studios that produced work that was most like Evans were the Hoover Art Studio, Hartsook Studio and Northland Studio.  I could probably go on and on (and may in a later post), but my point today is that it doesn't make my research any easier.

A good example of an 'is it an Evans' photo is (like the previous post) one I have in my Louise Fazenda collection.

Unfortunately, the right third of the photo is missing, most likely taking with it the photographer's signature.  The back has nothing but a snarky remark about it being suitable for a "How the Stars Recline" series.  It is, however, stylistically similar to 2 other photos in my collection, one of Louise Glaum and another of Ms. Fazenda (maybe Evans was working on a "How Louise's Recline" series).

     
You can see the similarities, but it's not necessarily enough to say with any certainty that it is an Evans.  If I were to name another possibility, it would probably be Albert Witzel, but I've yet to come across anything quite the same coming out of his studio.  For now, I am tentatively identifying it as an Evans, but would not be surprised in the least to find out it is the work of another studio.

UPDATE 8/3/15: A complete copy of the photo has appeared on EBay and it is indeed a Witzel photograph.

A Favorite Photo

Makes sense for one of the first posts on a blog about a photographer to be about a photograph.  This one of actress Louise Fazenda is a favorite of mine, partly because I collect photographs of Ms. Fazenda and partly because I like the composition.  Very few of Evans' photos are composed horizontally, so it is a bit unusual.  Not sure if the inscription is authentic, but considering the high quality of the photograph it's probably a safe assumption that it is real.  It's interesting how the silvering contrasts with the rest of the image, although in person it is not nearly as noticeable.  As for a date, it's probably from 1917 or 1918.