I’ve been seeing a lot of news stories about the planetary alignment that is supposed to happening over the next few days. When I began to research for this assignment, I began looking for astrophotography. I ended up settling on the above photo, taken in Wadesboro, NC by Thomas Smillie in 1900. There is a large collection of his photographs and cyanotypes on display on the Smithsonian website; Smillie was the first official Smithsonian photographer and the first curator of photography at the museum. I’d highly recommend looking at his work if you’re interested in early photography or the history of the Smithsonian.
This particular photo caught my eye because of the striking composition, but also the scratchiness of the background. The combination of the subject matter and the way the film was processed gives the photo an eerie, unsettling quality, not unlike that of early horror films. When I was searching for an audio track to include with the photo, Apparitions felt like it appropriately captured that sense of unease. The combination of these two works together, to me, feels evocative of the kind of superstitious dread you might feel when you’ve just watched a scary movie and then have to walk up a dark flight of stairs.
Hi Leslie, thanks for sharing this image and audio! When I first looked at the image, I was enamored by the beauty of the solar eclipse. The grayscale colors seem to add to the mystery to the serene scene. Without the audio, I feel that the image conveys silence, peace, and awe. Once the music is added, I felt that the image became much more grand, majestic, and even a bit unsettling, like there is something out in the sky that we cannot see. With the music, I could see this image setting the scene for a horror film, where the cameras pan up at the evening sky before the action happens. Another audio choice that would be interesting for this image is “Clair de lune” by Debussy. “Clair de lune” means moonlight, and while this image is not of the moon, I think this song pairing captures a completely different story; one of longing and mystery.
A technical suggestion I have is to hyperlink the photo and audio permalinks in the captions too, and not just in the blog post text. This would make it easier for readers to reference to without needing to skim the text again to confirm that they are clicking on the right link. I also did not see where a new license was chosen for this derivative; I only see that the audio is licensed under CC 3.0 while the image is public domain.
Hi Leslie,
I love this image! I reminds me of the latest solar eclipse we had last summer. It’s rare beauty captures the eye and the mind.
The sound was easy to access and reminds me of a rock drama! When paired with the image it makes me envision an epic, monumental space eclipse. It adds to it a sense of drama and intenseness to the phenomenon that is happening.
Hi Leslie!
This is a really beautiful image selection and audio. I get what you’re saying with the eerie feeling. The sound almost reminds me of an electronic and eerier Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which fits well with the theme of astronomy. It’s also very intense, which to me emphasizes the danger of the fire just behind the moon. I enjoyed your analysis of how the audio and the image complement each other. As a final note, remember to provide links to artists and sources for your images/audio, and not just to the licenses. Great work!