subject: Dare To Identify Famous Photographs Of Art Deco Photography Using These Tips [print this page] The famous photographs of Art Deco photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston were virtually lost to history. In the 1920's ACJ was one of the most prominent photographers in America. As the chief photographer for the Ziegfeld Follies Johnston had access to photographing some of the most beautiful and prominent women in the world.
Since the late 1990's a growing number of people have been running across Cheney Johnston's photographs on the internet where they're now being sold. His famous photographs are becoming more and more in demand. If you too are thinking of collecting his work, here are some for identifying authentic ACJ prints.
1. Lighting was a big part of ACJ's work. Some called him the Rembrandt of Photography. His early prints have a glow to them. This is caused by a combination of light, his glass plates not nearly being sensitive enough, long exposures and the camera lens being too soft. This resulted in what's known as halation-in other words the glow of the print image. As Alfred Cheney Johnston perfected the medium over the course of his career, the lighting grew more and more expert in time offering up ever more detail in his maturing photographic works.
2. Cheney's images have a undeniable innocence to them. This was achieved by how he positioned the model especially her hands. Look at enough ACJ prints and after awhile you can easily identify his prints by how the hands of the person sitting for him are posed. This focus on the position of the hands came from his classical training in fine art.
3. Seeing Alfred Cheney Johnston was the chief photographer for the Flo Ziegfeld's Follies on Broadway this meant he shot a lot of the Follies' stars and chorus girls in their stage costumes. That meant using a lot of props. Again, over time Johnston grew more and more expert at designing masterpieces of compositions by paying strict attention to how he posed the model and what props he included and where he placed them.
Besides shooting the Roaring 20's stars of the Ziegfeld Follies there were the stars of the burgeoning movie business out in Los Angeles. From Lillian Gish to Fanny Brice, from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Eddie Cantor, from Louise Brooks, a.k.a. "Lulu"- the Madonna of the Art Deco Era to Flo Ziegfeld's wife, Bille Burke best known as Glenda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz, ACJ photographed multitudes of famous people. At one time Johnston was so well known he was nearly as famous as the people he was hired to photograph.
Sadly, the Great Depression ended Alfred Cheney Johnston's career and he disappeared from Manhattan. But thanks to the digital age, Alfred Cheney Johnston's work got plucked from obscurity and brought to the attention of today's black and white print collectors of famous photographs.
