PHOTOGRAPHS
Dawsons
Scotland (active late 19th century)
Exophthalmic Goitre
1892 - 1896
Photogravure
5 5/16 x 4 1/16 in. (13.5 x 10.3 cm) image size; 14 5/8 x 10 9/16 in. (37.1 x 26.8 cm) sheet size
Monsen Study Collection of Photography, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen
FA 79.64

Little is know of the photographer who created the illustration for Bramwell's Atlas of Clinical Medicine. Like the botanical encyclopedia of Anna Atkins, this book was one of the first of its kind to use photographic rather than hand-rendered illustrations. This development led to a half-century of debate regarding which type of illustration was most appropriate to such a text. The photograph has a certain power to inspire sympathy while aiding diagnostics; however, drawings and paintings have typically been preferred for their ability to specify anatomy and the symptoms of disease objectively: -- in this sense, without employing the representation of a particular body. -- Label copy for The Photographic Impulse: A Critical History of Photography, The Joseph and Elaine Monsen Collection, Cincinnati Art Museum, October 12, 2001 - January 6, 2002.