Statues, busts, and other specimens of sculpture, are generally well represented by the Photographic Art; and also very rapidly, in consequence of their whiteness.
 
These delineations are susceptible of an almost unlimited variety: since in the first place, a statue may be placed in any position with regard to the sun, either directly opposite to it, or at any angle: the directness or obliquity of the illumination causing of course an immense difference in the effect. And when a choice has been made of the direction in which the sun's rays shall fall, the statue may be then turned round on its pedestal, which produces a second set of variations no less considerable than the first. And when to this is added the change of size which is produced in the image by bringing the Camera Obscura nearer to the statue or removing it further off, it becomes evident how very great a number of different effects may be obtained from a single specimen of sculpture.
 
With regard to many statues, however, a better effect is obtained by delineating them in cloudy weather than in sunshine. For, the sunshine causes such strong shadows as sometimes to confuse the subject. To prevent this, it is a good plan to hold a white cloth on one side of the statue at a little distance to reflect back the sun's rays and cause a faint illumination of the parts which would otherwise be lost in shadow.

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Inside, a silver plumb bob hung from the very center of the skylight. Directly beneath it was a raised circular platform with numbers 1 to 24 printed on it. The walls of the gallery were carved with carved pilasters into twenty-four panels, in the centers of which were handsome statues, supported on carved brackets or consoles. Not a camera was in sight.
 
The sitter was posed on the dais, with his head directly beneath the plumb bob. He was instructed to hold the pose for ten seconds - and that was all there was to having one's photosculpture taken. Compared with the hours upon hours of tiresome sitting for the orthodox sculptor, the new invention promised to be a great success.
 
Unseen by the sitter, twenty-four pictures of him had been taken by twenty-four miniature cameras, cleverly hidden inside the consoles. Each camera had a shutter, and these were synchronized by a system of cords controlled by an operator. The photographs which resulted were only a means to an end, and themselves possessed no artistic quality. As Boyer pointed out, all the paraphernalia and clutter of the studio was recorded - headrests and all. But the set of negatives contained sufficient information to enable François Willème to make a statue with a minimum of skill of hand and effort.
 
The second operation was to make lantern slides from the negatives.
 
The workroom where the photographs were transformed into three-dimensional sculptures presented as unusual an appearance as the studio. A battery of lantern slide projectors stood in a line, their lenses focused on translucent screens approximately six fee high. Beside each screen was a stout workbench on which there was a revolving platform divided exactly like the posing dais into twenty-four numbered sections. Modeling clay was piled on this platform and roughly shaped by hand into the size and form of the final statue.
 
The next step was to transfer the outline thrown on the screen by the magic lantern to the clay. This Willème did by means of a pantograph, adapted from the draftsman's instrument for reducing drawings. Four levers are so joined together in a parallelogram shape that the movement of the end of one lever is exactly reproduced by the other end but in reduced degree. Willème fastened a modeling tool at one end of his pantograph, which was arranged vertically, and a stylus at the other. As he traced the outline of the projected photograph, the modeling tool bit into the clay. After tracing the outline, Willème next traced the secondary features - eyes, nose, mouth.
 
Now a second slide was put into the projector. The translucent screen, which could be adjusted vertically and horizontally, was moved until a mark in the center was exactly opposite the plumb bob. The revolving platform holding the clay was turned to correspond to the number of the photograph, and the process was repeated.
 
After the twenty-four photographs had been traced, the result was a statue, which simply needed to be smoothed off before being cast into a more permanent form.^[10]

Goldsworthy is a land artist in the tradition of the great American earth-movers like Robert Smithson who created Spiral Jetty at Salt Lake, Utah. Richard Long, who imported that tradition to Britain, is another mentor; like them, he wants to get away from two-dimensional representation of landscape in a frame, and give you the thing itself. That's the theory. But he is also strongly in the tradition of everyone who has ever had memorable days making dens in parks or sandcastles on beaches. He preserves such ephemeral creations, icicle statues on rocks, brilliant forest dramas made with autumn leaves, in exquisite photographs.^[13]

1. Λ Herman Moeshart, 1985, July-September, ‘Daguerreotypes by Adolph Schaefer‘, History of Photography, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 211-218 
     
   
2. Λ Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey's daguerreotypes are included in - 1998, Girault de Prangey (1804-1892): dessins, peintures, photographies, études historiques, (Langres: Musées de Langres / D. Guéniot) [Exhibition catalogue] 
     
   
3. Λ Delores A. Kilgo, 1994, Likeness and Landscape: Thomas M. Easterly and the Art of the Daguerreotype, (University of New Mexico Press) 
     
   
4. Λ Pauline Lunsingh Scheurleer, "Isidore van Kinsbergen, Photographer of Javanese Antiquities", in Jane Levy Reed (ed.), 1991, Toward Independence, A Century of Indonesia Photographed, (San Francisco: Friends of Photography), pp. 36-43 
     
   
5. Λ British Museum - Hoa Hakananai'a From Orongo, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Polynesia, around AD 1000
   (Accessed: 4 April 2013)
   www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/h/hoa_hakananaia.aspx 
     
   
6. Λ For the study of archaeological remains on Easter Island - The Easter Island Statue Project
   (Accessed: 5 May 2014)
   www.eisp.org 
     
   
7. Λ Alois Löcherer, 1998, Alois Löcherer. Photographien 1845 - 1855, (Schirmer /Mosel Verlag Gm) 
     
   
8. Λ pers. email (1 July 2013) Robert G. Hill to Alan Griffiths. A set of the six folios is in the Private Collection of Robert G. Hill, Toronto, Canada. 
     
   
9. Λ Rodin and Steichen - Musée Rodin
   (Accessed: 5 November 2013)
   www.musee-rodin.fr/en/rodin/educational-files/rodin-and-steichen 
     
   
10. Λ Beaumont Newhall, May 1958, "Photosculpture", Image: Journal of Photography and Motion Pictures of the George Eastman House, no. 61, pp. 100-105 
      
    
11. Λ 9 August 1864, "F. Willeme: Photographing Sculpture", U. S. Patent No. 43,822, 
      
    
12. Λ For a selection of books on the Land art of Andy Goldsworthy - Andy Goldsworthy, 1990, A Collaboration with Nature, (Abrams); Andy Goldsworthy, 1996, Wood, (Harry N. Abrams); Andy Goldsworthy, 2004, Hand to Earth, (Harry N. Abrams), Andy Goldsworthy, 2011, Stone, (Thames & Hudson) 
      
    
13. Λ Tim Adams, 11 March 2007, "Interview: Andy Goldsworthy - Natural Talent", The Observer (UK)
    (Accessed: 17 August 2013)
    www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/mar/11/art.features3 
      
    

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