Burgert Brothers Photo Exhibit
The “Florida Museum of Photographic Arts is presenting “Panoramic Views of the Past”, an exhibit featuring twenty-four panoramic or “Cirkut” images of the Burgert Brothers.
For anyone interested in the history of Tampa this is a very interesting exhibit. I’ve seen many of the Burgert Brothers photographs, but I hadn’t heard of these panoramic images. The quality of the prints are excellent and they are surprisingly sharp and detailed from edge to edge. Looking at them is a journey into Tampa’s past - telling a story not only of the places, but of the people.
The FMoPA site has some explanation about the photographs:
“Most of these photographs are forty inches long and ten inches high. They were made using Cirkut cameras, large-format rotational cameras made between 1904 and 1943. Rotating on a special tripod, these cameras could capture a 360-degree view. The negatives of the Burgert Brothers photographs were produced on nitrate film, which had deteriorated over time. Thanks to a special project undertaken by the Friends of the Library of Tampa-Hillsborough County, Inc., the 430 Cirkut negatives have recently been preserved and scanned.”
Some of the photographs on exhibit are:
- May Day celebration in Plant Park
- Views of downtown Tampa
- View of Ybor City
- Undeveloped Davis Islands
- The Italian Club members
- Brandon High School graduating class
- Bayshore Boulevard at Giddens Avenue
- The 1927 New York Yankees
The exhibit runs through Saturday, March 15.
