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John Muir Wood
A game of bowls
1845 (ca)
Salt print, toned, from a calotype negative
8.5 x 12.9 cm
National Galleries of Scotland
Acc. No. PGP W 89
LL/56740
(Curatorial caption, accessed 23 November 2014)
Nineteenth-century photographs, be they portraits or scenic views, were generally constructed around a single focus of interest. In 'A game of bowls', Wood, not for the first time, was creating a decentralised composition where the eye of the viewer is allowed to wander from light to dark areas and back again. Whether this was an accident or a deliberate device, it makes the group of people appear much more natural than was usual for the time.
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