Babbitt was an American photography. He was mostly known for his images of the Niagara Falls. He started making daguerreotypes of the falls in 1853. Daguerreotypes are unique positive photograph that shows a fine grey silver-like amalgam image on polished silver. Rumor is that he use to wait for a group of tourist at Niagara Falls to get in front of the falls. He would then take images of them. After he took the images, he would try to sell it back to the tourists. But, his daguerreotypes are often well composed and not “snapped”.
There is little recorded about his life, so not much information can be found about his person life. The only thing left to do is talk about his photographs. What I like about his work is that the images are often a foggy and misty. It gives them an eerie feeling and makes you think whether the subjects are happy or sad. It is hard to see the subjects in his photographs and they almost look like a painting. There is a lot of contrast in the images. Some are dark or grey all around. While some have a distinct white from the falls and the surrounding area is dark. Not all of his images are of The Falls. Most are, but some I found were of landscapes. They were mostly full of trees or a few buildings. Even though a large portion of his photographs were people in front of The Falls, They all were unique somehow and were just as interesting as the one another.
great post, thanks.
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