Black And White Photography

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Famous Black and White Photography - People Now Buy It Who Never Thought They Could

Famous black and white photography prints go for exorbetent amounts of money in the art market. Have you  regretted not knowing about an artist's work when it was cheap enough for you to invest in before it  started going up and up like a red hot stock tip? Well here's your chance. The black and white photographs  of Alfred Cheney Johnston, a contemporary of Alfred Stieglitzand Edward Steichen are just beginning to gather momentum.

Alfred Cheney Johnston was the famed photographer of the Ziegfeld Follies. During the years he worked for  Flo Ziegfeld, Cheney photographed the hot celebrities of the day such as -  Ann Pennington - famous for her  shake and quiver dance, Eddie Cantor, and of course Flo Ziegfeld's wife, Billie Burke, best known for her  role has the good witch in the "Wizard of Oz". Not to mention all the beautiful stars of the Ziegfeld Follies.

ACJ shot thousands of stunning fine art black and white photographs. They're stunning because of his fine art  training. ACJ started out as an art student in New York City and was a protege of artist Charles Dana  Gibson who created the "Gibson Girl" modeled after his wife. While Cheney was still in art school the  medium of photography was gaining ground as an acceptable art medium. It was Gibson who spiked Alfred  Cheney Johnston's interest in photography in the first place and encouraged him to experiment with  it as a  new way to express his artistry. Thankfully Cheney listened.

In his hay-day of the Roaring 20's Alfred Cheney Johnston was in enormous demand. Not only was he recording  the images of all the major  stars and many of the chorus girls of the Ziegfeld Follies, he was  photographing the high society of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Soon the California film industry came  calling wanting to hire ACJ to shoot stills of their celibritys . At one time Johnston was as famous as many  of the people he photographed.

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 raked havov all across the United States. With money tight, especially for  such luxuries as going to Broadway musicals, Flo Ziegfeld was forced to close the Follies. Out of a lucrative job, Alfred Cheney  Johnston and his wife retreated to an old Connecticut farm where he lived out his life in obscurity.

Upon Cheney's death thousands of his photographs were discovered in his studio. An old turkey coop was found  to be packed with all his glass negatives. The negatives were hauled off to the local dump. The black and  white photographs were inherited by a close friend. In due course the whole collection was sold to a photo  dealer.

Thanks to the the advent of online auctions like Ebay, Alfred Cheney Johnston's stunning black and white  prints started being  offered for sale on the auction site. Slowly, Alfred Cheney Johnston's work has been  regaining its once famous status.

About the Author

Ava Land is a black and white photography enthusiast. To learn more about collecting  the famous black and white photography of Alfred Cheney Johnston at affordable prices visit this link http://alfredcheneyjohnston.com/Photography.htm

20th Century Black and White Photography

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