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Two Barns and Shadow, Dansville, New York from Sequence 10Rural Cathedrals

Date

1955

Creator

Minor White

Location

Raclin Murphy Museum of Art

More than any photograph in Sequence 10, Two Barns and Shadow carries religious symbolism. The central doorway of the large barn conveys a sense of sanctuary and congregation with its raised earth ramp, engineered specifically to gather livestock into the barn's main floor. The replaced barn doors--built of new, unblemished wood and contrasting with the shingled roof and weathered walls--enhance this effect. White photographed this scene on a late summer evening, when the stubble of a mown hayfield provided a modulated passage of gray, contrasting with the starker tones of the buildings. He was most excited by the shadow of a utility pole, reminiscent of a Byzantine or Russian Orthodox cross. In fact, White considered the appearance of this cruciform shadow as a personal revelation. In the darkroom, the photographer burned the area of the sky to darken its appearance; he also accentuated the cross by augmenting the contrast in the image. from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)

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More than any photograph in Sequence 10, Two Barns and Shadow carries religious symbolism. The central doorway of the large barn conveys a sense of sanctuary and congregation with its raised earth ramp, engineered specifically to gather livestock into the barn's main floor. The replaced barn doors--built of new, unblemished wood and contrasting with the shingled roof and weathered walls--enhance this effect. White photographed this scene on a late summer evening, when the stubble of a mown hayfield provided a modulated passage of gray, contrasting with the starker tones of the buildings. He was most excited by the shadow of a utility pole, reminiscent of a Byzantine or Russian Orthodox cross. In fact, White considered the appearance of this cruciform shadow as a personal revelation. In the darkroom, the photographer burned the area of the sky to darken its appearance; he also accentuated the cross by augmenting the contrast in the image. from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)
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  • More than any photograph in Sequence 10, Two Barns and Shadow carries religious symbolism. The central doorway of the large barn conveys a sense of sanctuary and congregation with its raised earth ramp, engineered specifically to gather livestock into the barn's main floor. The replaced barn doors--built of new, unblemished wood and contrasting with the shingled roof and weathered walls--enhance this effect. White photographed this scene on a late summer evening, when the stubble of a mown hayfield provided a modulated passage of gray, contrasting with the starker tones of the buildings. He was most excited by the shadow of a utility pole, reminiscent of a Byzantine or Russian Orthodox cross. In fact, White considered the appearance of this cruciform shadow as a personal revelation. In the darkroom, the photographer burned the area of the sky to darken its appearance; he also accentuated the cross by augmenting the contrast in the image. from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)
  • More than any photograph in Sequence 10, Two Barns and Shadow carries religious symbolism. The central doorway of the large barn conveys a sense of sanctuary and congregation with its raised earth ramp, engineered specifically to gather livestock into the barn's main floor. The replaced barn doors--built of new, unblemished wood and contrasting with the shingled roof and weathered walls--enhance this effect. White photographed this scene on a late summer evening, when the stubble of a mown hayfield provided a modulated passage of gray, contrasting with the starker tones of the buildings. He was most excited by the shadow of a utility pole, reminiscent of a Byzantine or Russian Orthodox cross. In fact, White considered the appearance of this cruciform shadow as a personal revelation. In the darkroom, the photographer burned the area of the sky to darken its appearance; he also accentuated the cross by augmenting the contrast in the image. from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)
Minor White (American, 1908 - 1976)
1955
Photographs
Gelatin silver print on mount
1995.073
barns
religious symbolism
summer
utility poles
© The Trustees of Princeton University. All rights reserved
Not on view, please request access
10 7/8 x 13 7/8 in. (27.7 x 35.1 cm)
Gift of Dean A. Porter

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at RMMACollections@nd.edu.