“Far above…”

Panorama photographs were produced from 1840 onwards, using specialized cameras that could hold long film negatives. In 1899, Kodak introduced the #4 Kodak Panoram camera for amateur photographers, and in 1904 the Cirkut camera was introduced for commercial photographers. It used large film that ranged from 5” to 16” wide and could be as long as 20 feet. Both the camera and the film rotated. A “banquet” camera appeared around 1910, mainly for taking group portraits, using a single negative 12”x20” or 8”x20” Panoramas could also be created by mounting together separate images taken from the same viewpoint.

Cornell University Panorama Photograph, looking east from McGraw Hall. S.L. Sheldon ’98, M.S.’01, 1908.

Seth L. Sheldon began taking photographs as a student at Cornell. A commercial photographer in Ithaca, he produced numerous photographs and books of views that were advertised for sale in the Cornell Daily Sun and the Cornell Alumni News.

Cornell University Panorama “Albertype,” looking north from Sage Hall. The Albertype Co., Brooklyn N.Y. Published by Student Supply Store, Ithaca N.Y., 1914.

The Albertype Company, founded in 1890 by Adolph and Herman L. Wittemann, operated in Brooklyn from 1890 to 1952, and produced over 25,000 postcards and prints. The company’s agents took photographs all over the country, and they also used images taken by other companies or individuals. The pictures were then reproduced as collotypes, a photomechanical process, which used photographic negatives. Color was added to the process in 1876 by Joseph Albert (“albertype”). The Student Supply Store, a part of Student Agencies, created, advertised, and sold the photographs and postcards.

Cornell University Panorama Photograph. Arts Quad, looking east, ca. 1910.

Cornell University Panorama Photograph, looking north from Sage Hall. John P. Troy, Ithaca N.Y., ca. 1920.

John P. Troy served as Cornell University photographer. He created numerous views of the campus, including an annual calendar. He had a top-floor studio in Morse Hall. Most of his cameras, records, and negatives were destroyed in a 1916 fire, possibly caused by photographic chemicals. He later had a studio in the Mechanical Laboratory.

Cornell University Panorama Photograph, looking north from the smokestack of the Central Heating Plant (south of Dryden Road/Route 366). John P. Troy, Ithaca, N.Y., Sept. 13, 1922.

Cornell University Panorama Photograph, looking north from Sage Hall, ca. 1930.

Cornell University Panorama Photograph, looking north from Sage Hall, ca. 1940.

Around 1900, Littig & Company commissioned artist Richard Rummell (1848-1924) to create watercolors of some of the nation’s most prestigious colleges. The prints were panorama views, appearing to be done from an altitude of about 300 feet. While it is possible that the artist used a tethered balloon, it is more likely that he used some process of isometric drawing to convey the illusion of altitude. From these watercolors, engravings were made on copper plates, and a limited number of copies were made and distributed. About 1910, a limited number of these engravings were distributed in sepia color. In the 1960s, Paul Victorius purchased the plates, drew each print by hand from the plates, hand-colored the prints with watercolors, and sold them through alumni offices. The Cornell version was advertised in the October 1969 Cornell Alumni News.

As a graduate student in 1952, David Seccombe, now a noted sculptor, was very impressed by Cornell’s topography. He thought of the “C” idea while driving the vertiginous cliff-edged curves of the back roads near the campus in an old Model A convertible.

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