ArtistFranz Jantzen
C&O Canal: Mile 0: Panoramic View of the Tide-Lock at Rock Creek, Georgetown
Date1996
MediumSilver gelatin print
DimensionsEach (4): 20 × 24 in. (50.8 × 61 cm)
20 × 96 in. (50.8 × 243.8 cm)
Framed Size: 26 1/2 × 100 1/2 in. (67.3 × 255.3 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Wilson Building Collection
Object numberDCCAH2006.189
ClassificationsPrints
Locations
- Wilson Building Art Collection (1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW)
DescriptionThe C&O Canal ended nearly a century of service in 1924 and has slowly been “melting into nature” ever since, a wonderful phrase from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem “Ode to Beauty.” I was fascinated by this 186-mile-long ruin and photographed it extensively between 1992-2003. I was surprised to find it challenged me, but I eventually found my voice with antique yard sale lenses for my large format camera, and split-toning techniques for my resulting prints. These indirect references to antiquated photographic processes felt appropriate for a series which caused me to contemplate the experiences of the very earliest photographers and to ask myself, how does one see photographically for the first time?
