Seeing through Camouflage
Abbott Thayer, Background-Picturing and the Use of Cutout Silhouettes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10273432 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roy R Behrens (0000-0002-5652-4335, Roy R. Behrens (designer, writer, teacher), 2022 X Avenue, Dysart, IA 52224, U.S.A.., corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 40-46 |
| Publication date | 2018-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Leonardo (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0024-094X • E-ISSN: 1530-9282 |
| Publisher | MIT Press - Journals (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1162/leon_a_01337 |
| OpenAlex | W2509221173 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 1 |
In the first decade of the twentieth century, while researching protective coloration in nature, artist-naturalist Abbott H. Thayer (1849–1921), working with his son, Gerald H. Thayer (1883–1939), hypothesized a kind of camouflage that he called “background-picturing.” It was his contention that, in many animals, the patterns on their bodies make it seem as if one could “see through” them, as if they were transparent. This essay revisits that concept, Thayer’s descriptions and demonstrations of it, and compares it to current computer-based practices of replacing gaps in images with “content-aware” digital patches
Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Camouflage · Visual arts · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Photography and Visual Culture · Visual Culture and Art Theory
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |