The Magic Lantern Gazette - Library

The Editor’s Page 2
Busy Young Photographers
Amateur photographers have had a very busy month of it so far, and lantern-slide exhibitions, meetings of societies, and test nights
take up much of their time. Indeed, there is some sort of photographic meeting almost every night. Interest in the pastime was
never greater. Yet with it all there is very little practical photographing done this Winter. Dark days have been so largely in the
majority that trips in search of fine views have been discouraging …. Many amateurs are anxious to have a chance at snow scenes.
The great blizzard two years ago was made use of by the picture takers, and excellent specimens were secured. In is not easy photographing
to tackle a snow scene. Side-lights are best in taking them…. The cozy rooms of the New-York Camera Club, at 314
Fifth-avenue, will undoubtedly be filled this evening, when a lantern exhibition will be given entitled "Pictures Taken Here and
There by a Hand Camera." The views will be those of Mr. William T. Wintringham, whose collections have always been pleasing
and artistic.
The New York Times, January 27, 1890
The Winter 2007 issue of the Gazette comes a bit late this
year; it is no longer 2007, although it most definitely is still
winter in many parts of the country. Long winter nights have
long been associated with the magic lantern, with Christmas
shows for children and photographic lectures for adults. In the
pre-television era, lantern slides provided cheap entertainment
and instruction when the nights were too cold for outdoor activities
and too dark for indoor recreations such as reading. In
the late 19th and early 20th centuries, lantern slide shows were
popular at meetings of photography societies, with amateur
photographers eager to show off their latest pictures of snow
scenes and other subjects.
One such amateur photographer was Vermont farmer Wilson
Bentley, the subject of our first feature article. Long-time Society
member Shel Izen has told the story of this unlikely pioneer
of snow crystal photography, illustrating his account with
spectacular lantern slides from his own collection. Wilson
Bentley will be familiar to many members from the awardwinning
illustrated children's book, Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline
Briggs Martin (1998). Bentley not only perfected the
art of photographing delicate snow crystals, but he also exhibited
many of them with his own magic lantern, and sold other
images as lantern slides to schools, colleges, and private individuals.
Our second feature article is about a traveling showman with
the seasonally-appropriate name of Robert Winter. Suzanne
Wray, who recently joined our society, has done a wonderful
job of ferreting out obscure references to Winter's shows in old
newspapers and broadsides, and in the process, tells the story
of an important contributor to 19th century visual culture
whose name probably is unknown to almost all readers of the
Gazette. In a book chapter published a few years ago, magic
lantern historian Deac Rossell decried the lack of information
about the culture of the magic lantern in the United States in
the 19th century. Suzanne's work exemplifies the sort of research
that is required to fill in this gap in our knowledge. Her
work also makes clear the extent to which different visual media
overlapped in these early shows. Winter used painted
dioramas, lantern slides, and dissolving views in his shows,
and it sometimes is difficult to discern from newspaper ads
and broadsides the exact form of the pictures being exhibited.
Included with this issue are two important notices. The first is
a reminder that your 2008 dues should be paid by March 1 to
keep our society and the Gazette functioning. The second is a
registration form for our upcoming July convention in Washington.
Some information on the convention program is included
in this issue, and more details will be available by the
spring issue.
Kentwood D. Wells, Editor
451 Middle Turnpike
Storrs, CT 06268
kentwood.wells@uconn.edu
Snow crystal lantern slide by Wilson Bentley.