A Return to Tintypes

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope: especially striking subjects3% picked this

   photography in the nineteenth century tended to focus on subjects that are especially striking

   These are the only available details we have on Estabrook - having unpredictable stains / imperfections in his photos heightens their sense of nostalgia and makes them appear as if they're objects from a bygone past - over time, photos lose their original meaning, which allows us to project our own sentiments and associations onto the photo This answer doesn't seem to be reinforcing language from either of those available "soundbytes". We never see Estabrook commenting on the type of subject matter portrayed in 19th century photos.

   3%
2. B

   Correct70% picked this

   artists can relinquish control over significant aspects of the process of creating their work and still produce the

   Why this is right

   This reinforces the first thing we know about Estabrook. - having unpredictable stains / imperfections in his photos heightens their sense of nostalgia and makes them appear as if they're objects from a bygone past He's attracted to the unpredictability of these processes. These processes often have random stains / imperfections that are beyond the artist's control. "His work embraces accident and idiosyncrasy", which is not something a control freak would be able to do. Why is he attracted to some of the uncontrollable "mistakes" that result from these old processes? Why is he embracing them? Because these stains and imperfections heighten the sense of nostalgia / make every photo seem like a lost object / inspire a fantasy / etc., which is the aesthetic he's going for.

   Skill tested: Non-Author Opinion · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   70%
3. C

   Out of Scope14% picked this

   photographs produced in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were generally intended to exploit artistically the

   Out of Scope: intended to exploit Contradicted These are the only available details we have on Estabrook - having unpredictable stains / imperfections in his photos heightens their sense of nostalgia and makes them appear as if they're objects from a bygone past - over time, photos lose their original meaning, which allows us to project our own sentiments and associations onto the photo. We know that Estabrook is definitely using these processes in order to artistically exploit the unpredictability of these processes. But we have no reason to think that Estabrook believes that people 100 years ago used these techniques generally for the same purpose. And it's more aligned with common sense that Estabrook (like us) would assume that people 100+ years ago used these techniques because they were the best available! In fact, we're told that "the stains and imperfections of prints made from gum bichromate or albumen would probably have been cropped out by a 19th-century photographer". So clearly the 19th century photographers didn't want those unpredictable blemishes in their final product.

   14%
4. D

   Opposite, if anything2% picked this

   it is ethically questionable to produce works of art intended to deceive the viewer into believing that the works are

   We're told in the 2nd paragraph that Estabrook would love to create a photo and stash it in a flea market or antique shop so that a customer seeing it would unknowingly assume it was older than it really is (from a bygone era that never existed). Since he imagines this with glee, it would be hard to argue that he finds this sort of thing "ethically questionable".

   2%
5. E

   Too Strong: primarily11% picked this

   the aesthetic significance of a photograph depends primarily on factors that can be manipulated after the

   If we softened this to say, "the aesthetic significance of a photo can depend in part on factors that can be manipulated after the photo has been taken", then it would be fine. Estabrook definitely thinks that some of the foibles that result from using these processes to develop the photo change the aesthetic value of the final product (they heighten a sense of nostalgia). But we can't sign off on Estabrook believing that more than half of the aesthetic value of a photo comes from the stuff you do after you take the photo.

   11%