Valley of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland (from the album Charbons de Braun- vues prises avec l'objectif panoramique mobile, 1868)
1868
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1868
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
This black-and-white photo shows a narrow path winding through a quiet valley. On the right, a small white house sits near the edge of the road. To the left, a cluster of buildings huddles near a church steeple. In the distance, a tall waterfall crashes down a steep cliff, surrounded by jagged mountains. The photo was taken with a special wide-angle lens, which warps the edges slightly. This made it look like a panoramic scene back when cameras couldn’t capture such wide views easily. Next, check out the technique: chiaroscuro to see how light and shadow create depth in photos like this.
