Post-Postmodernism and the Archive

Abstract

THE DISCOVERY Early in 2005, a dramatic discovery was made in attic and basement of a home in Southern California. It was complete archive of a photographer apparently active in mid- to late-nineteenth century. A battery of prints, negatives, logs, and equipment constituted this surprising discovery and revealed a previously unknown chapter of photographic history. The findings were contained in numerous trunks and crates containing crumbling platinum prints and well-preserved glass negatives along with volumes of logs and journals detailing journeys and activities of one Timothy Eugene O'Tower. From these notes it is known that O'Tower explored West in era of Manifest Destiny's westward expansion. The archive was transferred to Terry Towery, a distant relation of O'Tower's, who is a professor of photography at Lehman College of City University of New York and Parsons School of Design in New York City. Towery, who teaches History of Photography as well as other courses, says that one of most startling aspects of discovery was familiarity of so many of images. In reviewing archive, one notes images that scream photo history from images that are similar (to extent of almost exact framing) to seminal images from 1860s and '70s by Mathew Brady, William Henry Jackson, Timothy O'Sullivan, and like. Many were labeled with locations but very few with dates, leaving chronological identification to text of logs and more often to conjecture. O'TOWER'S STORY The following biography is excerpted from a catalog produced by Towery and Peer Gallery where first exhibition of O'Tower's work was held in Fall of 2006: Timothy Eugene O'Tower (1829-1900) grew up in shadow of Tower of Eire. At ten years of age he was apprenticed to a gentleman scholar interested in optics and chemistry as well as philosophy and aesthetics. In his youthful apprenticeship, he spent his days making lenses and mixing chemicals and his evenings discussing philosophy and aesthetics with his master. In 1841, he attended to his master at Henry Fox Talbot's presentation to Royal Society on The Pencil of Nature. Although much of his history is lost, it is known that he explored American West and Far East at approximately same time as those photographers in the Canon, but his imagery went mysteriously undiscovered until now. In early 1860s, he fled Ireland after shooting his wife for allegedly having a torrid adulterous affair. He went eastward in 1865 and simultaneously discovered photography as his chosen career path. After making an undetermined number of images in East he made his way to America and continued in tradition of American exploration photographers. His close friends included both Edweard Muybrige and Timothy O'Sullivan. While Mathew Brady was away on one of his many extended journeys, Timothy Eugene had an affair with Mathew Brady's wife. Because of affair, Brady refused to include O'Tower in official exploration group. Unbeknownst to Brady, O'Sullivan hired O'Tower as an assistant for his expertise in both technical and aesthetic matters. In this manner he traveled with O'Sullivan and Muybridge, thus revealing frequent similarity in imagery. News items and his death certificate reveal little about his demise. O'Tower's body was found both stabbed and shot. Never claimed by friend or family, he was buried anonymously in a public cemetery and he effectively disappeared from history. (1) THE FICTION O'Tower never existed. He is an identity and fiction created by photographer Terry Towery as a vehicle for presenting a body of work that engages questions of authenticity, authorship, originality, contemporary sublime, and postmodern obsession with simulacra of past. …