Viva Lewes Issue #134 November 2017

INSIDE LEFT
OFF WITH HIS HEAD
We do not know the exact date of this odd picture from the Reeves archives: Tom – who chose
it to fit the theme ‘noir’ - assumes it was from his grandfather Benjamin Reeves’ ‘experimental
phase’ in his 20s, when he was playing around with certain special effects that you could achieve
with dry-plate photography. This would suggest it was taken in the Edwardian period. “My great
grandfather Edward was a pioneer of photography who worked with wet plates, so his experimentation
was very pioneering and about the very process of photography,” says Tom. “Because
grandad worked with dry plates he could do more stuff: early artificial lighting, the possibility of
multiple exposures, etc.” The special effect in this case was a bit of cropping while the negative
was being exposed. Any close scrutiny of the photo reveals his trick, but as this was fairly
cutting-edge jiggery-pokery at the time, it would have presumably given viewers quite a shock.
We’re intrigued by the narrative Benjamin has set up, which seems to ask more questions than
it answers. Who is the character sitting weeping in the foreground of the picture? Why is the
headless man pointing his knife at the spine of a book? Why are there two knives, and why are
they so small, considering the gruesome job they have? Sadly, we will never know the answers.
Thanks, as always, to Edward Reeves, 159 High Street, 01273 473274
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