May 21, 2015 - Sale 2385

Sale 2385 - Lot 68

Price Realized: $ 4,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
LINK, O. WINSTON (1914-2001)
"Gooseneck Dam and the No. 2, Near Natural Bridge, Virginia." Silver print, 19 1/2x15 1/2 inches (49.5x39.4 cm.), flush mounted, with Link's signature on mount verso. 1956; printed 1960s
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Additional Details

Link was a pioneer of night photography under challenging conditions, of which this photograph is an excellent example. To capture the precise moment when the train passed, Link and his assistant had to carefully cross a narrow wire bridge with an assemblage of delicate photography and lighting equipment. It took them over a week and 1000 feet of wire to prepare. When the train passed at precisely 8:10pm--the only passenger train of the day--a sudden spray of mist from the waterfall obscured the train from view. Link, a master of preparation and patience, returned the next day, and this time captured the image seen here with perfect illumination of train and waterfall.

America's Last Steam Railroad: Steam, Steel & Stars, Photographs by O. Winston Link (Hensley, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1987), p. 66.