I often write about techniques to photograph unusual objects, or situations that involved photographing objects on site. This past Friday, however, we had the unique pleasure of photographing a very rare and unusual object while it was being installed for exhibition. My colleague and I photographed a narwhal tusk from the Paul C. Nicholson Whaling Collection of the Providence Public Library, on loan to Brown for the exhibit Unicorn Found: Science, Literature and the Arts. The exhibit, as well as a special Unicorn Colloquium the afternoon of March 11, are part of the larger, multi-institution Unicorns in Residence: Providence event this spring.
The Narwhal tusk is remarkable to view in person; I was surprised at its size (56″ long), and its hollow, spiral structure. In a previous discussion about photographing this object, it was decided that the safest and most efficient time for photography was during installation of the tusk, so it would be handled as little as possible and by the folks who specialize in handling these materials. (While my colleagues and I are familiar with many special handling techniques for rare and fragile objects, the narwhal tusk requires multiple people to handle, and while its age is unknown it is a decidedly delicate object.) All object handling was done under the direction of Jordan Goffin, Special Collections Librarian at the Providence Public Library, with the assistance of Rachel Lapkin, Materials Conservator at Brown (who also made the stands that support the tusk), and Sarah Dylla, a Public Humanities graduate student at Brown working on a fellowship in Special Collections.
The tusk in its display case at the Hay, prepared for photography with gray backdrop and studio lights. The camera, tethered to an out-of-frame laptop, is mounted on a tripod on a table to obtain a suitable height and distance from the object.
The tusk is housed in a display case that can be viewed either from the main lobby or the Grand Reading Room at the Hay. After looking at the space prior to photography, we decided to photograph the tusk in its display case, with a neutral gray backdrop set up temporarily for photography. We set up the backdrop, two lights to illuminate the tusk, and then the tusk was moved into place. We had decided to photograph it from several angles – straight on, and from multiple side and front views – so we made several images from one vantage point, and then moved on to additional angles and views.
Alternate views and detail of the narwhal tusk.
The tusk, and a number of other curious unicorn-related materials, will be on display in the John Hay Library in the renovated lobby cases and Willis Reading Room cases from March 11 – July 31, 2015.