Tuesday, May 12, 2009

THEN AND NOW--
At the Mansfield-Richland County Public Library

The library teamed up with prominent local photographer—and old friend—Jeff Sprang to create a display of local, historical photographs and paintings, nicely compared to the current photographic view of the same subject.

Sprang worked with a collection of 60 aging prints from the library’s Sherman Room collection plus others from the collection of Tim McKee, the library’s Communications Associate, and whose idea led to the project.

From October 2007 through March 2009 Sprang found the exact location of the old photographs and determined the precise camera position for the shot, duplicating that angle in the modern version.

While processing one of those new shots, Sprang was surprised to see his image reflected in a doorway glass, then found a nearly identical image of what appears to be the tripod and legs of the photographer in the photo done long ago.

The oldest photo duplicated was an 1869 Stereopticon image of Mansfield’s square.

McKee described the response to the show as “astonishing”. Time and time again we’ll see folks react with delight then summon their companion to share some memory long lost in the passing of time, he noted.

The display is scheduled to continue on the library’s second floor level until the end of May.

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Ecedric Jefferson, Mansfield, is pictured above enjoying the display. The panoramic views to the far left of the above photo are a 1920 Harley Davidson Motorcycle Club photo duplicated by the modern membership of that same club.

1 comment:

Jeff Sprang said...

Terry:

Many thanks for your nice comments about the show.
It really means a lot to me that you enjoyed it.
It really was an interesting and rewarding project.