Granville C. Fairchild
Arc's - The Intersections of Art, Photography and Technology
To understand the significance of Granville C. Fairchild's contribution one has to consider the Arc's that comprise his relevance to history and the manner through which they contribute to the ultimate capture. Starting his art education relatively late while in his mid-twenties. Granville in an extremely short time garner the high interest of Robert Sudlow, Albert Bloch, Afred Dickinson, Robert Hale to further develop and nurture his burgeoning talent.
Art.
Beginning his Art Studies, while pursuing a Master's of Science in Psychology, Granville's raw talent was immediately recognized through Master's both nascent rise and at the zenith of their career's. Robert Sudlow, saw Granville first as a promising student. Then as instructor to Granville introduced him to his mentor Albert Bloch and fellow Art instructor Anna, who was to later be the 2nd Mrs. Bloch. During this nexus period Granville was to find his artistic footing and worked diligently with great support to give it a voice. It was through this Art instruction - steeped in the traditions of the old Master's and formidable Impressionist movement that Granville's Painter's eye had its footing.
Photography.
The rise of Impressionism was likely nor more than a reaction to the advent of photography, as the art of portraits, landscapes and capture of historical events, were now more conveniently captured with photographic plates and silver nitrate. Suddenly the amazing art of high end portrait painters was under threat. Although at first black and white, color photography was not too far behind, which then left the painter to push the concepts of texture, feeling and meaning.
Technology.
With the advent of digital photography. Once again the costs of Photography went down allowing for accessibility, but lost is the eye of the past. The past being set in the approach that the old masters would come to understand their world through their simple little framing devices and ingenious methods for composing the subject matter for a painting. These simple framing devices, skills and ingenuity would be lost. Sadly, replaced by the "untrained observer", the simple viewfinder of the lens and again later with the real time miniature viewer. With the image immediately accessible and having the luxury of many instances and massive post processing to capture what the painter worked with great effort. Granville's classically trained "artist eye" recaptures this lost essence.