Ely Cathedral: Evening View from the East, 1916

When Frederick Evans was traveling throughout Europe photographing medieval cathedrals, such as those in the two works offered here, he would typically stay in the vicinity for several weeks, and would return to the site multiple times, ardently studying scenes from dawn until dusk. On these trips he would make meticulous notes, both written and photographic, to carefully observe the way that light in the naves and cloisters of the churches changed throughout the day. To best capture these subtle variations while retaining as much detail as possible in both the bright and shadowy areas, Evans began experimenting with exposing techniques that involved faster and slower emulsions layered on top of each other on his glass plate negatives. Eventually he was able to perfectly expose particularly the interior scenes where there were ample areas of bright light, deep shadow and many gradations in between. Platinum was Evans' preferred printing medium, as be believed it had the greatest power to render an image with clarity, complexity and density. An extensive writer on the art of photography, Evans had very clear ideas about what the medium's unique values were to the fine arts.

Cathedrals were Evans' favored subjects, but not simply because of their long existing tradition in the literary and visual arts; his engagement with this subject was highly emotional. Evans once said of his love for photographing cathedrals, ‘there are no more abiding memories of peace, deep joy, and satisfaction, of a calm realization of an order of beauty… than those given by a prolonged stay in a cathedral vicinity’ (Exhibition catalogue, The Photographs of Frederick H. Evans, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2010, p. 15).

Another platinum print of this image resides in the collection The Royal Photographic Society at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.