POTW: Brooklyn in Blue

Sarah

WILC_0085, 1892, Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library
WILC_0085, 1892, Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library

Today's Photo of the Week is a cyanotype created by New York City photographer Julius Wilcox. Wilcox was born in Vermont in 1837, moving to New York at the age of 29 and settling in Brooklyn. He made his living as a writer for the New York Evening Gazette and as part owner of a bicycle business. He seems to have taken up photography as a hobby, photographing mostly in Manhattan, favoring architecture and the city’s working-class and poor. His album of original cyanotypes with handwritten captions was donated to the library, presumably after his death in 1924.  

Named for the cyan color of the final print, the cyanotype is a photographic process discovered by Sir John Herschel 1842. The simple recipe requires a mixture of potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate which can be applied to any porous surface, although watercolor paper is usually preferred. An image can be made by creating a contact print with a large format negative or placing an object directly on the surface to create a photogram. Several minutes of sun exposure followed by a freshwater rinse will produce a Prussian blue print.  

This photo is an interior view of the Central Presbyterian Church, also known as the Tabernacle on Marcy and Jefferson Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant, photographed in 1892. This is one of the few examples of a Brooklyn interior in Wilcox's collection. 

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to inviting you to CBH in the future to research in our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. In the meantime, please visit our resources page, or access the resources of the former Brooklyn Collection. Our reference staff are still available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.

 

This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.

 

Peter Fratangelo

That church looks incredible in scale. I would love to learn more about that church. Obviously it doesn't stand anymore but when was it demolished? What happened to the pipe organ?
Tue, Apr 13 2021 11:02 pm Permalink
David Goodrich

Cyanotype is a fancy word for a blueprint. It is a process used by architects, engineers, designers or anyone needing to reproduce a mechanical drawing which was made on tracing paper and exposed to the sun or a bright light source and washed as described. The process was common until the mid 20th century when a similar process was invented that would produce a black or blue line on white paper, still from tracing paper. Today such drawings are scanned and printed digitally.
Tue, Apr 13 2021 11:06 pm Permalink
jean harrington

In reply to by David Goodrich

At first, I thought it read "Albermarle" as in theater, not "Tabernacle". The space does have the allure of being in a theater. Then, your explanation of cyanotype gave me the reason why a certain Catholic church had a photo of its interior done in 1935 was in the same bluish tint shown here. But, only 1/3 of 3 enlargements have that tint. The rest is a b&w photo. I thought you might have another explanation. thanks!
Thu, Apr 15 2021 12:41 am Permalink

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