Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882-1966) was an American photographer who was greatly influenced by his mother who was a keen photographer. He travelled to England in 1899 with his mother and cousin, F. Holland Day (a well known photographer of the period). He developed substantial contacts in the photography word and in 1902 was elected a member of the ‘Photo-Secession, founded by Alfred Steiglitz to raise the standards of pictorial photography. In 1903 he was elected member of the Brotherhood of the linked Ring in Britain.

Coburn produced through his career many different types of photographs and was well known for his portrait work and ‘Vortographs’ a technique he developed turning his photography into an abstract artform. The work I will comment upon will be that of a series of landscapes produced in Yosemite, the image above titled, ‘The Pillar Cumulus, Yosemite Valley, 1911.’ The picture below is of the ‘Snow Clad Sierras ? Yosemite Valley, 1911.’ These picture were taken on a trip with his mother.

I appreciate these images were taken 30 years earlier than Adams work of the same area and technology has moved on, they in no way show the level of craft and ability of the work of Adams. Maybe Coburn was paving the way for later photographers to build on the work he produced. The clouds in the top picture above however are dramatic and the image is well printed with lots of drama. I do however see the work of Coburn as paving the way for photography in its present form and there is much modern day photographers can learn from looking at the wide variety of work he produced. Although in its day it would have been at the pinnacle of the medium.

Bibliography -

http://www.geh.org/fm/coburn/yosemite/htmlsrc/index.html

http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=1164