Daniel Farber

Collections:Addison Gallery of American ArtAkron Institute of ArtArkansas Arts CenterBerkshire MuseumBoston Public LibraryBrooks Memorial Art GalleryChrysler MuseumDallas Museum of Fine ArtsHigh Museum of Art, AtlantaMetropolitan Museum of ArtMusem of Modern ARtWorcester Art Museum http://beverlykayegallery.blogspot.com/2009/02/daniel-farber-self-taught-photographer.html 2-14-2011His business was leather, but his love was photography. On his gravestone are the words "Nature is my God" and his camera is carved over the shoulder of his marker, as if resting there a moment. Daniel Farber's works are in the permanent collection of 123 museums world wide, and he had numerous one man shows. Although he was self-taught, his "Reflections" show received rave reviews at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY, as did his "Early American Gravestones" show at the AMFA and at Yale. When the Boston Aquarium opened, his stunning slides of reflections in water were mounted in their entry and his unforgettable macro images of flowers grace the walls of the Decorative and Fine Art division of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He was published in American Heritage, Popular Photography, Modern Photography, and Country Beautiful magazines, as well as on many classical record album covers. He was a prodigious photographer whose work is still widely collected. More than 1,400 dye transfer color prints, 34,000 gelatin silver prints, and 14,000 negatives produced by him are in the collections of U.S. museums and institutions. He was also one hell of a gardener, and one of my favorite uncles! Vintage images and his book, "Reflections of a Trail Taken" are available through this gallery. http://www.worcesterhistory.org/wo-gravestones.html 2-14-2011Daniel Farber (1906-1998) was born in Worcester and worked at his family's shoe components factory. He began taking photographs in the 1920s, but it was not until the 1950s that his avocation became a serious one. One winter day in 1958 while looking for a subject to photograph, he came upon an 18th century graveyard in Paxton and discovered a new subject-early American gravestone art. Daniel Farber During the next 40 years Dan, together with his wife Jessie Lie, photographed more than 7,500 gravestones in locations along the eastern seaboard, as far west as Texas, and in many foreign countries. Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, founded in 1831 in partnership with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, was the first "rural" cemetery in the United States. Worcester's Rural Cemetery, founded in 1838, is the second oldest in New England. The carved faces of early American grave markers tend to face west. Headstones were placed so that the carved face was away from the grave, so the viewer would not have to walk on the grave to read the inscription. The body was buried with the head to the west so that when the cock crowed on Judgement Day the deceased would sit up facing the rising sun in the east. Dan and Jessie Lie Farber encouraged and energized gravestone studies nationally and internationally. Both were founding members of the Association for Gravestone Studies, which was created in 1976-77. http://yccclibrary.edublogs.org/2008/09/04/icons-of-early-american-tombstones-photography-by-daniel-farber-september-2008/ 2-14-2011Icons of Early American Tombstones: Photography by Daniel Farber, September 2008A new art exhibit has just arrived at the YCCC Library and will be on display through September 29. These nine photographs by Daniel Farber provide a glimpse of colonial American history as carved in stone: angels, hour glasses, and even the grim reaper. Stop by to take a look today! Jason Jolda’s artwork will also continue to be displayed during this time.The following information was provided by the University of Maine Museum of Art about the artist and this collection:In the winter of 1958, Daniel Farber began working with the gravestones of Colonial America. He realized the value of the tombstones to the research of art historians, archaeologists, genealogists, and scholars of American history as examples of early American sculpture. However, the stone reliefs were eroding due to neglect, vandalism, weather damage, and eventually would be destroyed and lost forever. For those reasons, Farber realized the need to photographically record their images. To accomplish this, Farber developed a technique to control the angle of sunlight, creating a slight shadow across the carving, by using a large mirror fitted on a tripod. This technique allowed him to capture a three-dimensional image of each gravestone at virtually any time of the day, anywhere in the graveyard. Farber’s images capture the carvings in great detail, and reveal the symbols commonly associated with death and the passage of time hundreds of years ago. The most common folk art images from that era symbolizing death – death-heads, hour glasses, angels, flowers and sickles – are still recognized today. Farber has photographed 7500 different stones, as well as coordinated and participated in efforts to ensure the preservation of several of these grave markers.http://artbrutandoutsiderart.blogspot.com/2010/03/self-taught-photographer-breaks-museum.htmlSelf-taught photographer breaks museum barriers, and that was in the 5o's The Metropolitan Museum of Art presented a photography show, and one of Daniel Farber's reflection photographs was used as the banner advertisement. This self-taught photographer, in the leather business with his brothers, started making photographs later in his life. The results of this hobby, turned obsession, are held in over 123 museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, The Smithsonian, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Yale University Museum, and so on. He also had his images used in the movie "Tommy", as well as on the covers of multiple classical music albums. Farber was named one of the top ten photographers in the decade from the 1960's through 70's, and his nature photographs are in many private collections. Since he utilized the process called color separation, these vintage images are as brilliant today as they were when they were first printed.Silhouettes of winter trees, starkly portrayed in black and white, were among his favorite subjects and silkscreens were made of several of these striking images. A small portfolio of them (image size 16" x 16", printed on Arches paper) are now available, each of which is published, and several of which are held in permanent museum collections. Contact the Beverly Kaye Gallery for more information.