["Thornedale," Oakleigh Thorne house, Millbrook, New York. Lawn terrace and pond]

description

Summary

Site History. House Architecture: Federal revival house built 1849, with later additions. Landscape: Helen Stafford (Mrs. Oakleigh) Thorne, from 1908. Other: Oakleigh Thorne was W.O.S. Thorne. Today: House extant.

On slide (handwritten): "Mrs. Oakleigh Thorne, Millbrook, N.Y."

Title and subject information provided by Sam Watters, 2011.

Forms part of: Garden and historic house lecture series in the Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection (Library of Congress).

Published in Gardens for a Beautiful America / Sam Watters. New York: Acanthus Press, 2012. Plate 44.

Formerly in Box 70.

The lantern slides first produced for the 17th century's “magic lantern” devices. The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name Lanterna Magica, an image projector that used pictures on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source, used for entertainment. The earliest slides for magic lanterns consisted of hand-painted images on glass, made to amuse their audiences. After the invention of photography, lantern slides began to be produced photographically as black-and-white positive images, created with the wet collodion or a dry gelatine process. Photographic slides were made from a base piece of glass, with the emulsion (photo) on it, then a matte over that, and then a top piece of a cover glass. Sometimes, colors have been added by hand, tinting the images. Lantern slides created a new way to view photography: the projection of the magic lantern allowed for a large audience. Photographic lantern slides reached the peak of their popularity during the first third of the 20th century impacting the development of animation as well as visual-based education.

Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) was an American photographer who is best known for her pioneering work in the field of architectural and landscape photography. She was born in Grafton, West Virginia, and after studying art and photography in Paris, she returned to the United States and established herself as a successful photographer. Johnston's work focused primarily on architecture, and she photographed many of the most significant buildings and structures of her time. She also photographed landscapes, gardens, and people, and her work often appeared in magazines such as House Beautiful, Ladies' Home Journal, and Country Life. One of Johnston's most notable projects was her documentation of historic architecture in the American South. In 1933, she was commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation to photograph historic homes and buildings in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina. This work resulted in a series of photographs that are now housed in the Library of Congress. Throughout her career, Johnston was also an advocate for women in photography, and she worked to promote the work of other women photographers. She was a founding member of the Women's Professional Photographers' Association and the Photo-Secession, a group of photographers who sought to elevate photography as an art form.

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Tags

mansions new york state millbrook gardens lakes and ponds swans lantern slides hand colored thornedale oakleigh thorne house oakleigh thorne house new york lawn terrace lawn terrace pond exterior mansion johnston frances benjamin collection frances benjamin johnston photo ultra high resolution high resolution park library of congress
date_range

Date

01/01/1919
person

Contributors

Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952, photographer
collections

in collections

Lantern Slides

Magic Lantern

Frances Benjamin Johnston 1864-1952

American photographer who is best known for her pioneering work in the field of architectural and landscape photography.
place

Location

millbrook
create

Source

Library of Congress
link

Link

http://www.loc.gov/
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

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Topics

mansions new york state millbrook gardens lakes and ponds swans lantern slides hand colored thornedale oakleigh thorne house oakleigh thorne house new york lawn terrace lawn terrace pond exterior mansion johnston frances benjamin collection frances benjamin johnston photo ultra high resolution high resolution park library of congress