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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Photography Centre, Room 100, The Bern and Ronny Schwartz Gallery

Fountain, Paris

Photograph
1934 (photographed), 1988 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Ilse Bing (1899-1998) was one of several leading women photographers in the inter-war period. Born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt, she initially pursued an academic career before moving to Paris in 1930 to concentrate on photography. Bing experimented with solarisation from 1934 at the same time as Man Ray (1890-1976) and Lee Miller (1907-1977), although she claimed that she discovered the technique independently of them. Solarisation happens when negatives are exposed to light in the darkroom during developing and printing, producing partly reversed images. Bing’s experiments developed from an interest in light, as she explained at the time, ‘light was considered the medium that permits photography. But for me it became the main subject: the protagonist of my photography’. This photograph reveals the effects of electric lights on water. Bing made solarised photographs of dancers in night-time Paris at the same time. This image shows an exterior view of the city at night.


Object details

Category
Object type
Titles
  • Fountain, Paris (assigned by artist)
  • Fountain, Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Gelatin-silver print from solarised negative
Brief description
'Fountain, Paris', photograph from solarised negative by Ilse Bing (1899-1998), 1934, printed 1985
Physical description
The focal point of this photograph is a water fountain. Because of the solarised negative, the projected water appears very bright against the dark, night-time background. The fountain is flanked by two rows of lights, appearing as glowing dots in the sky.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 33cm
  • Image width: 25.7cm
  • Sheet height: 35.4cm
  • Sheet width: 27.8cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'ILSE BING / 1934' (Written in pencil on reverse by artist)
  • 'Fountain Paris / sol.neg. / pr 1985' (Written in pencil on reverse by artist)
  • 'ILSE BING 1934' (artist's signature, black ink, bottom left)
Gallery label
Bing moved to Paris from Germany in 1930 and became fascinated with experimental photographic processes. This photograph is ‘solarised’, a darkroom technique which creates partly or wholly reversed tones. Bing often worked with a Leica, a revolutionary 35mm hand-held camera that enabled photographers to capture fast-moving events. Here, water erupts from a Parisian fountain at night, illuminated by the city’s electric lampposts.(May 2023)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Ilse Bing Wolff
Subject depicted
Summary
Ilse Bing (1899-1998) was one of several leading women photographers in the inter-war period. Born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt, she initially pursued an academic career before moving to Paris in 1930 to concentrate on photography. Bing experimented with solarisation from 1934 at the same time as Man Ray (1890-1976) and Lee Miller (1907-1977), although she claimed that she discovered the technique independently of them. Solarisation happens when negatives are exposed to light in the darkroom during developing and printing, producing partly reversed images. Bing’s experiments developed from an interest in light, as she explained at the time, ‘light was considered the medium that permits photography. But for me it became the main subject: the protagonist of my photography’. This photograph reveals the effects of electric lights on water. Bing made solarised photographs of dancers in night-time Paris at the same time. This image shows an exterior view of the city at night.
Bibliographic reference
Ilse Bing: Three decades of photographyNancy C. Barrett (New Orleans Museum of Art, 1985)
Collection
Accession number
E.3069-2004

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Record createdOctober 31, 2005
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