DOI Heft:
No. 131 (February, 1904)
DOI Artikel:West, W. K.: The photographic work of W. J. Day
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19881#0067
The Photographic Work o/~ TV. J. Day
qualities of illumination. If he is an artist he will an artist of unusual _type. For one thing, he has
show it by such means ; if he is not, he will make spent all his life in the country—at Bournemouth—
no one think he is by worrying inefficient photo- so that he had constant opportunities of studying
graphs into some semblance of still more inefficient Nature under all sorts of aspects, and has had
etchings or water-colour drawings. always within easy reach a wide variety of subjects.
There are not many workers in the field of pic- For another, he comes of a family which has been
torial photography who so completely satisfy the very much occupied with professional photography,
essential conditions as Mr. W. J. Day. Few men and he has had the advantage of a thorough training
have laboured so consistently to uphold the purity from childhood in the technical side of his work,
of this form of art practice, and fewer still have From his father, especially, who was a most intelli-
kept in view with such absolute singleness of purpose gent investigator in the days when photography was
a remarkably high ideal of photographic production, largely a matter of experiment, he acquired a belief
Circumstances have, no doubt, helped to make him in the possibility of extending the range of the
craft, and this belief remains
very definitely in his mind
even now, when so much has
been done to make easy
achievements which would
have been utterly out of the
reach of the workers who were
doing their best a quarter of a
century ago.
But, above all, he owes his
position to the fact that his
artistic capacity is with him
instinctive, and not, as it is
with so many other men in
his profession, a superficial
acquirement. He has by
temperament the power to
recognise not only what is
subjectively and dramatically
the best material for treat-
ment, but also what is the
most appropriate aspect under
which it should be presented.
His sympathy with Nature is
absolute, and his belief in her
as an infallible guide is alto-
gether devout. Hence it fol-
lows that he is strictly a realist,
with an honest conviction that
it is his mission to interpret
with scrupulous fidelity what-
ever subject he decides upon
as suitable for pictorial record.
It is, however, in making this
decision that the strength of
his individuality appears. By
years of communion with
Nature he has learned many of
her secrets ; incessant obser-
vation has taught him how she
'caught" from a photograph by w. j. day should be followed, and how
5i
qualities of illumination. If he is an artist he will an artist of unusual _type. For one thing, he has
show it by such means ; if he is not, he will make spent all his life in the country—at Bournemouth—
no one think he is by worrying inefficient photo- so that he had constant opportunities of studying
graphs into some semblance of still more inefficient Nature under all sorts of aspects, and has had
etchings or water-colour drawings. always within easy reach a wide variety of subjects.
There are not many workers in the field of pic- For another, he comes of a family which has been
torial photography who so completely satisfy the very much occupied with professional photography,
essential conditions as Mr. W. J. Day. Few men and he has had the advantage of a thorough training
have laboured so consistently to uphold the purity from childhood in the technical side of his work,
of this form of art practice, and fewer still have From his father, especially, who was a most intelli-
kept in view with such absolute singleness of purpose gent investigator in the days when photography was
a remarkably high ideal of photographic production, largely a matter of experiment, he acquired a belief
Circumstances have, no doubt, helped to make him in the possibility of extending the range of the
craft, and this belief remains
very definitely in his mind
even now, when so much has
been done to make easy
achievements which would
have been utterly out of the
reach of the workers who were
doing their best a quarter of a
century ago.
But, above all, he owes his
position to the fact that his
artistic capacity is with him
instinctive, and not, as it is
with so many other men in
his profession, a superficial
acquirement. He has by
temperament the power to
recognise not only what is
subjectively and dramatically
the best material for treat-
ment, but also what is the
most appropriate aspect under
which it should be presented.
His sympathy with Nature is
absolute, and his belief in her
as an infallible guide is alto-
gether devout. Hence it fol-
lows that he is strictly a realist,
with an honest conviction that
it is his mission to interpret
with scrupulous fidelity what-
ever subject he decides upon
as suitable for pictorial record.
It is, however, in making this
decision that the strength of
his individuality appears. By
years of communion with
Nature he has learned many of
her secrets ; incessant obser-
vation has taught him how she
'caught" from a photograph by w. j. day should be followed, and how
5i