Corson Hirschfeld: Afterlife

Afterlife explores the enduring work of Corson Hirschfeld (1942–2020) through a selection of his photography, co-curated by his wife, anthropologist Tassie Katherine Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld’s interdisciplinary photography evolved from documentary research for the scientific journal he edited, Journal of Herpetology, to commercial projects like the iconic “Rainbow Legs” for the Cincinnati Ballet, ultimately leading to his works of art focused on cultural artifacts. For over 15 years, Hirschfeld obsessively photographed ancient sacred sites, culminating in Places of Power: Sacred Sites of the Americas and Pacific, a traveling exhibition originating at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in 1988. Hirschfeld’s research, travel, and creation of photographs were painstaking, including his post-production technique of hand painting selenium-toned gelatin silver prints in limited editions of 25. 

While time breaks apart the physical world into ever-increasing entropy, it simultaneously builds the essence of our being—culture and self. Time gives us more history and experience, not less. Hirschfeld’s work manifests this paradox, pulling ruins of the past into a present experience—a long view of our timeless humanity. Hirschfeld saw his photography as “a thread attached to the person who did it, a bridge between us and the people.” Viewing his work, audiences inherit that thread and bridge to the ancients—and Hirschfeld.