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Details
- Other Title
- The Sea of Steps, Wells Cathedral England
- Date
- 1903
- Media category
- Photograph
- Materials used
- platinotype photograph
- Dimensions
- 23.6 x 19.2 cm image/sheet; 44.5 x 34.3 cm board
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of the Sydney Camera Circle 1977
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 53.1977
- Artist information
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Frederick H Evans
Works in the collection
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About
Frederick Evans dedicated much of his time as a professional photographer to the documentation of architecture. In this pursuit he advanced the idea of a 'pure' (i.e. not retouched) photography. Adamant that great buildings, in particular cathedrals, could be photographed with a sense of transcendence, Evans spent days noting changes in light and atmosphere. 'A sea of steps' encapsulates many of his aesthetic concerns. The steps softly lit yet clearly articulated, cascade down and across the picture in a visual tension that ultimately leads the eye to the illuminated archway.
In writing about 'A sea of steps' in 1903 Evans noted:
The beautiful curve of the steps on the right is for all the world like the surge of a great wave that will presently break and subside into smaller ones like those at the top of the picture. It is one of the most imaginative lines it has been my good fortune to try and depict; this superb mounting of the steps…
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Exhibition history
Shown in 5 exhibitions
Onsight - The Expressive Image, Various venues, , 12 May 1987–13 May 1988
International Photographs from the Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 12 Jan 1991–14 Apr 1991
The Enigmatic Object, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Apr 1997–22 Jun 1997
Flatlands: photography and everyday space, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Sep 2012–03 Feb 2013
Flatlands: photography & everyday space, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Sep 2012–03 Feb 2013
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Bibliography
Referenced in 4 publications
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Judy Annear, Look, 'The Enigmatic Object - photography and the uncanny', pg.22-23, Heidelberg, Apr 1997, 23 (illus.).
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Judy Annear, The Enigmatic Object, Sydney, 1997.
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Jonathan Cooper, Onsight - The Expressive Image, Sydney, 1987, (illus.). cat.no. 8
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Vigen Galstyan, Look, 'Infinite flatness: exploring the intangible', pg. 28-29, Sydney, Oct 2012, 29 (illus.).
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