University Library News Release
Date: November 5, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
Branson Library Exhibit Features Historical Panoramic Photos
A new exhibit in NMSU's Branson Library fourth floor gallery showcases panoramic photos from the Library's Archives and Special Collections Rio Grande Historical Collections. The exhibit will run through December.
A selection of a dozen panoramic photographs from the early to mid-twentieth century gives visitors the opportunity to enjoy views of past scenes and to learn more about the history of photography.
Exhibit viewers are invited to look closely at the images and pay attention to some of the interesting and at times amusing details that they might miss at first glance.
Panoramic photography is almost as old as photography itself. The first practical photographic process developed in 1839, called the daguerreotype, was named after panorama painter Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. His artwork influenced the development of the daguerreotype.
The images displayed in the Library's exhibit show a variety of scenes from landscapes to group portraits in a variety of widths. The unique properties of panoramic photography produce features of the images that show the process at work, for example, the blurring of individual figures.
Also, several images show vertical lines that appear somewhat out of focus. These lines are the result of the repositioning of the camera as it pans. You can also see the distortion of features such as rivers as the viewpoint angles away during the camera's sweep, and the change in the angle of sunlight and shadow from one side of the image to another.
For more information, contact Rio Grande Historical Collections archivist Charles Stanford at (575) 646-6323 or cstanfor@lib.nmsu.edu.
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