Thursday, 12 December 2013

Art of the Week: Cottingley Fairies

Elsie Wright, "Cottingley Fairies" (1917). Click here for image URL.


Elsie Wright took this picture in 1917: A shot of Frances Griffiths posing while surrounded by fairies. Almost 100 years after the invention of photography, people started to understand how to ‘edit’ and create imaginary scenarios.

The cut-out fairies were placed in the setting where the picture would be taken. Though for us it seems so obvious to be a man-made intervention, at the time, people believed these fairies to be real. Photography was used to document reality, and it was its main purpose at the time, even if used for artistic intent. Once the fairies were seen in a photograph, it was to believe they were real, because all other elements of the picture were too.