Time and Place - 2019 Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland

This project at the Walters Museum of Art uses portraiture to engage with the history of this house, exploring the ways that photography can collapse the distance between past and present. Jay Gould and Antonio McAfee, both Baltimore-based artists, have created works that draw connections between history and our contemporary, lived experience by celebrating the lives and contributions of ordinary people.

Listen to an NPR Interview between Jay Gould and Julia Marciari-Alexander, Director of the Walters Art Museum.

View a recording of a live, online artist talk with background + behind the scenes

Project Statement

Jay Gould’s wet-plate collodion photographic portraits recognize, examine, and pay tribute to the complex history and current aspirations for 1 West Mount Vernon Place to serve as a space that informs the present by inspecting the past. Gould uses a historic photographic technology, invented during the exact time this building was originally constructed. His portraits of contemporary subjects appear as splendid silver coatings on glass and black metal, just as they would have in the 19th century. In this way, viewers can also imagine the lives of past residents of the house, especially in relation to the present. The photographs displayed here and in the parlor include portraits of staff at G Krug & Son, the company that created the original ironwork on the building’s exterior; Roberto Lugo, whose work is also on view in this room; and staff from various departments at the museum, including Engineering, Maintenance, Security, Lighting Services, Information Technology, and more.

As you view these works the museum invites you to contemplate the ways that photographic portraiture connects us across different eras and spaces.

Time and Place has been organized by The Walters Art Museum. Support for this exhibition has been generously provided by Neil and Sayra Meyerhoff.


Behind the Scenes

The production of this project at the museum was a big undertaking, requiring a mobile darkroom, extremely careful handling of chemistry and a lot of energetic people. We want to share some of the behind the scenes images and thank those that brought this project to life.

An extra special thanks to Kirsten McKenzie, Ellie Hughes, Alexander Jarman and Asa Osbourne, whose encouragement and assistance made this beautiful exhibition happen!

©Jay Gould, All rights reserved.
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