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After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006
12/5/2005 Rephotographing
the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Legion of Honor
17 December 2005–4 June 2006
San Francisco--In commemoration of the centennial anniversary on 18 April 2006 of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco presents a display of 46 lucent photographs and four panoramas that pair vintage images of the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake with modern renderings of the same sites by contemporary photographer Mark Klett (American, b. 1952). The large-format inkjet prints provide both a haunting and beautiful record of historic sites throughout San Francisco as captured in 1906 by Arnold Genthe (American, b. Germany, 1869-1942) and other photographers of the time and an opportunity to view via Mark Klett’s photographs the same locations as they are today. With painstaking research to determine the perspectives used by the early photographers and the time of day during which they made their images, Klett has rephotographed the original sites, highlighting remaining structures seen in the vintage prints so that it is possible to recognize them amid the rebuilding, the new building, and the bustle of modern daily life.
Over the past two years, Klett has been collecting 1906 images from the Legion of Honor’s Arnold Genthe archive, the Bancroft Library, and various web-based archives, resulting in the selection of 85 geographical sites. His fieldwork in recreating the historic shots covered the entire city of San Francisco, from Union Square to the Presidio, South of Market to the Marina Green, and Mission Dolores to Cow Hollow. The resulting paired photographs, depicting the city then and now, show that the two spaces and times are related. In Klett’s words, “The photographs are more than a reminder of the power of nature or a warning to arrogance in the face of it. I also think they are a way to contemplate how we understand time and our relationship to the past.”
Arnold Genthe’s Record of the 1906 Earthquake
Mark Klett has incorporated into After the Ruins 14 of the Legion of Honor’s Arnold Genthe images of the 1906 earthquake. Says Karin Breuer, Curator of Contemporary Graphic Art, “Genthe’s images of the earthquake and fire are the most extensive and the most beautiful record of the event. He was an established and accomplished photographer allied with the pictorialist school, and he applied all of his skill, aesthetics, and sensibilities to the pictures he made of the aftermath of the earthquake.” The Genthe archive holds 125 cellulose nitrate negatives produced by Genthe with a Kodak camera that he borrowed from a friend when he discovered that his studio and equipment had been destroyed in the earthquake. In 1956 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the earthquake and fire, Ansel Adams printed 22 images from Genthe’s original negatives.
Mark Klett and the Genre of Rephotography
Arizona-based photographer Mark Klett has been photographing the American West for over 25 years. He was the Chief Photographer of the Rephotography Survey Project in the late 1970s, which located and rephotographed the sites of images made by William Henry Jackson, Timothy O’Sullivan, and other photographers surveying the West in the late 19th century. After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006: Rephotographing the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire extends his reach as the leading exponent of rephotography.
Mark Klett teaches photography at Arizona State University, where he holds the position of Regents Professor. He has a Bachelor of Science degree (1974) in geology from St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography from the State University of New York, Buffalo, Program at the Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York.
Best known as a landscape photographer, Mark Klett has won numerous awards, and his work has been widely exhibited and published. He is the author of 12 books,
the most recent of which is After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006: Rephotographing the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, which accompanies the exhibition at the Legion of Honor.
1906 Earthquake Centennial Alliance
The exhibition After the Ruins identifies the Fine Arts Museums as a member of the 1906 Earthquake Centennial Alliance, an organization of approximately 150 entities that includes museums, libraries, historical societies, parks, and academic research groups, as well as representatives from a broad range of sectors that include science, health, education, public policy, print and broadcast media, and business. The Alliance was formed to coordinate efforts and activities among organizations in Northern California that are planning events and presentations to commemorate the earthquake.
Catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a book titled After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006: Rephotographing the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, by Mark Klett and Michael Lundgren, with a foreword by Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Director Harry S. Parker III, essays by Rebecca Solnit and Philip Fradkin, and an interview with Mark Klett by Karin Breuer, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Curator of Contemporary Graphic Art. Co-published by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and UC Press, 140 pages, 11 x 10 inches, 56 duotones, 52 color images, 2 maps, 2 double gatefolds. Clothbound $49.95; soft cover $24.95. Available in the Museum Stores.
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