New England Rooms, 1639-1863

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Summary: Samuel Chamberlain a Forgotten American Photographer
Review: Samuel Chamberlain was one of America's preeminent photographers during the early and mid 20th Century. He is conspicuously and sadly forgotten today. I use the word conspicuously because if you every see his work as originally published he no doubt would leave you intrigued. That's putting it mildly. I think his greatest passion and love was the rural New England setting. It is amazing how his black & white photographs could actually capture the colors of the New England foliage. One can feel the sun shining through autumn colored leaves. I find that remarkable and that is what has intrigued me and has sent me on a never-ending quest to locate copies of his originally published books. If you do become intrigued, you must locate copies circa the time of the original date of publication. I am not an expert on printing techniques and papers, but I do know that his original works were usually printed on a bright white matte finish paper, which reproduced the photographs as close to photograph paper as was possible. When you see photographs in a newspaper, they look as though they are made up from a series of dots, which they are. I believe what you are seeing is a sample of the dpi or dots per square inch. With more dots per square inch definition and tonal qualities are increased. With Chamberlain's original publications, one does not see any dots. The photographs are vibrant and have to be seen in person to be appreciated. I have seen one of his old titles back in print recently, "The New England Image." I own a first printing, which was bound and printed by Conzett & Huber, Zurich, Switzerland, 1962. Actually this is one of Samuel Chamberlain's best-known books. The first printing is a work of vitality and art. The new edition is so poorly printed that it makes the photographs look entirely undistinguishable from the originals. The latest printing of "The New England Image" in fact makes Chamberlain's photographs look very mundane, commonplace and "undistinguished." As an extension of his New England subjects, which were often composites of nature and typical historical and uniquely New England structures, he also turned his lens to Colonial American architecture and interiors. Actually, that was another hallmark of Samuel Chamberlain. Later in his life he did some shooting in color. You can find a quantity of his color work in books on Cape Cod circa 1968. I do recommend this book because if you are unacquainted with Chamberlain will possibly gain some appreciation for his work. Again modern printing techniques do not do justice especially for black & white photography the more that I think about it. I think the main thrust of technology today is the perfection of color reproduction. How unfortunate that is for Samuel Chamberlain and for future generations.