O. Winston Link

[Agamennon2000]

I have to do a research paper on O. Winston Link. for photo class and I can't find a whole lot of info about him. I found the museum and my school has one book with his material in it, but i need more sources... help!!!!

 

[jp80874]

Library?
Internet search?

John Powers

 

[Peter Spangenberg]

Try sending a note to the Fraenkel Gallery. Maybe they can point you in the right direction.

 

[Denis K]

I've always thought of O.W.L as the Norman Rockwell of photography, and I don't say that to be pejorative. To me his photographs were about more than trains, but like Rockwell, he sketched out for the viewer how the community related to the railroad. Plus, he was unapologetic about his art and his methods. If there ever was a exponent of what could be called unavailable light photography it was him, and for our younger generation, he did this at a time when flash was non-electronic. The equipment he used was massive. Consequently, if you look at some of his famous images, like the one with the train crossing the bridge with the kids swimming in the stream under the bridge, the lighting was so extensive he must have needed a blasting permit to take the shot.

If you have to do a research paper about him I would recommend limiting the scope of your paper to some specific aspect of his life and how his work related to his contemporaries. May I suggest a title such as: O. Winston Link, Industrial Photography at Mid-Century. The idea would be to examine industrial photography during that time frame and show how it influenced his work.

Denis K

 

[tessar]

Here's a good website to get you started:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._Winston_Link
Google lists many more sites.

 

[Pinholemaster]

http://www.soulcatcherstudio.com/artists/link_bio.html

http://www.louisianalink.net/bio.html

http://www.artnet.com/artist/10571/o-winston-link.html

http://www.spikesys.com/Trains/owlink.html

So what do you need to know?

 

[bwfans]

You can try to contact Winston Link's son. You might be able to locate him through some gallery.

 

[jp80874]

There is a wonderful story about his wife locking him in the basement to make the prints that are now so valuable. Love being a many splendored thing.

John Powers

 

[ic-racer]

And I guess the 'not so wonderful' story of her plot steal his photographs

 

[KenR]

NY Times

The New York Times had lots of stories about the wife, the lover and the prints. She went to prison after the prints started showing up at various auctions. So the details should be available in their archive as should his obituary.

 

[Jim Edmond]

I suggest contacting someone at the Link museum for help: Dead Link Removed

 

[amuderick]

There was a book recently published about his work, "The Last Steam Railroad in America". I picked it up about 6 months ago at Border's book store in the clearance rack. it is probably at a remainders store by now, maybe Atlantic Bookstore or similar deep discount book shop. Amazon.com has it for $12. I think I paid a bit less.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

There is a documentary film about O. Winston Link, you might be able to find it somewhere.

Tom

 

[cowanw]

There is an alternate story line of the husband conspiring with the local law to deprive the wife of her half of the marital estate at divorce.
There is a rather good video available on the issue of the man and wife.
http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?video?Masterworks_Clip_0_842219_TPHWHL.
There are always two sides to every story.

 

[jp80874]

You gotta love this place as a resource.
Okay, how many words do you need?
Single or double spaced? Bibliography?

Oops forgot, I have a Walker Evans paper due Monday.
Imagine what I could find here on that.

John

 

[Dan Henderson]

You gotta love this place as a resource.
Okay, how many words do you need?
Single or double spaced? Bibliography?

Oops forgot, I have a Walker Evans paper due Monday.
Imagine what I could find here on that.

John

Can you imagine the endnotes to a paper using APUG as sources?

Seriously, I have long admired the photographs of OWL. Even more so when I was able to visit his museum last summer and see some in person. Gorgeous work, in my opinion.

 

[MikeSeb]

Good to hear about Link here. I love the stark surreal quality of the images. The Norman Rockwell analogy someone mentioned seems apropos. I always thought of Link as a kind of fine-art illustrator, if that makes sense, and in no way pejorative.

And you can't help but be filled with wonder and admiration that he was able to pull it all off with the enormous bulky manual gear of his era. Kinda makes my whiny excuses for "imaging failure" seem a bit lame.

 

[doughowk]

I only had one of his calendars, but finally ordered one of his books (steam,steel & stars). The Link Museum in Roanoke looks like it would be a great resource for your research.

 

[Krockmitaine]

There is an issue of Railway History from the Railway and Historical Society. I will search through them this afternoon so you will be able to locate a copy somewhere.

 

[Valerie]

Can you imagine the endnotes to a paper using APUG as sources?

.

Ummmm.... No. His teacher is also an apugger.

 

[Agamennon2000]

Yea, She would kill me for using Apug as a source!!! Huh Valerie?????

 

[Valerie]

F.