ILLUSTRATED ACADEMIC
ESSAY ON CHILD
PHOTOGRAPHY
Contextual and cultural referencing in art & design

UNIT 3 TASK2
LORRAINE ABELA
HND2

Contents
Focusing on Child Photography along the years ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Daguerreotype ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
Victorian Era .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Pictorialism ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Straight photography .................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Documentary photography ......................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Contemporary Work ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Re Interpretation of paintings ....................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Bibliography ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Works Cited ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 25

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Illustrated academic essay
Focusing on Child Photography along the years

Child Photography has always been an area of interest for me. Having my own children made it easier to interact with different children of all ages. Lately some work in this area of photography has taught me a great deal and was of so much satisfaction. So the decision to focus the essay on Child portraiture and research how it has evolved throughout the years, from the very beginning of photography to recent works, came automatically.

Daguerreotype
As photography started to grow in popularity, in mid eighteen hundreds, more people where seeking to have their portraits taken. Around 1853, it is calculated that in New York alone there were around eighty six photographic studios. This shows the growing popularity of the daguerreotype photography at that time. The photographs’ uniqueness, delicateness and their different perspective made the daguerreotype fashionable. Researching Child
Photography primarily took me back to a period of time where families where requesting portraits of their children taken. Southworth & Hawes where two photographers, partners in this business, who are considered as ones from the very first who worked in this field. Many children daguerreotype photographs call their name. The following are some examples of their works, which display children posed in a very rigid way, generally gazing away from the camera. 2

F IGURE 1 A LICE M ARY HAWES , DAUGHTER OF PHOTOGRAPHER HAWES ; SOUTHWORTH & H AWES 1850

F IGURE 2 UNIDENTIFIED CHILD 1850; SOUTHWORTH & HAWES

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F IGURE 3 A LITTLE BOY ; SOUTHWORTH & HAWES 1850

F IGURE 4 AN UNIDENTIFIED GIRL ; SOUTHWORTH & HAWES 1850
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Victorian Era
Traditions changed along the years and progressively other trends started to infiltrate photography. Prior to the Victorian era, even though people used art to record some situations they soon started to turn to photography, in daguerreotype and then ambrotype.
There was this tradition in those days that deceased persons started to be photographed as post mortem remembrance but mostly because there was no existing image or painting of the deceased.
Southworth and Hawes offered this service as well and Southworth once wrote:

“The artist is often required to transfer to canvas, paper or marble, the living features after the pulse has ceased to beat. Much oftener is the daguerreotypist called to copy what life has left. Sometimes he may represent “balmy sleep,…under the worst and most forbidding circumstances….” (http://www.eastmanhouse.org/icp/pages/postmortem_port.html )

One can find several examples of Victorian Post Mortem or memento mori photography, the latter translating from Latin as “remember you must die”. This was a strange tradition but there were instances where the photograph would be the only existing photo of the whole family or of the siblings of their lifetime. In the following images one can have an idea of how the above mentioned photographs looked like.

F IGURE 5 THIS IS HOW V ICTORIANS EXPERIMENTED WITH DEAD RELATIVES
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F IGURE 7

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F IGURE 8

As photography started to be easily attained by the average class people, many started to take pictures of their bundle of joy. One might find this kind of photography eerie but it was frequently used in late 1850’s. As one can see in the pictures below, the child seems to be alone in the photographs but when looking closely one can notice that the child is actually sitting on his/her mother’s lap covered with some kind of fabric such as a curtain. `This kind of photography is known as ‘The Hidden Mother’. The reason behind why the mother is never showing in the photograph is still unknown. The mother had to hold her child due to long exposure. Linda Fregni Nagler, a Swedish photographer and nowadays established in Milan, made a collection of these photographs ranging from daguerrotypes, tintypes, carte de visites and cabinet cards and even published a book as seen below:

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F IGURE 9 A COLLECTION OF LINDA FREGNI NAGLER

F IGURE 10 MOTHER HIDDEN BEHIND CURTAIN HOLDING BABY .
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F IGURE 11 HIDDEN MOTHER BEHIND CURTAINS HOLDING CHILDREN .

F IGURE 12 HANDS OF HIDDEN MOTHER ARE SHOWING WHILE HOLDING HER CHILD .
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Pictorialism
In the photographs previously mentioned, the children are all static and mostly centered in the photograph. Taken with Daguerreotype, ambrotypes or tintypes, required longer exposure. This made the children look stiff and uncomfortable. As photography evolved, there were further developments and the efficient Kodak no.1 was invented. In early 1890’s one can observe a big change in how children are photographed. Gertrude Kasebier, one of the very first women photographers, from the Pictorialist era; emphasized her photography on the bond between the mother and the child. Her work made her an acknowledged artist with the invitation to join the group ‘The Linked Ring’ and later in ‘Photo
Secession’. Gertrude Kasebier had some of her work published on the quarterly magazine of
Photo Secession, Camera Work.

F IGURE13 A PAGE FROM THE MAGAZINE ' CAMERA WORK ' SHOWING G ERTRUDE KASEBIER AS ONE OF THE MEMBERS

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In the early 1900’s photography changed, it started to be more artistic, making the scene or situation look even nicer than it was in reality. The children were photographed in a setup, with nice lighting conditions and with natural poses.
One can immediately notice the immense difference from what photography offered in the previous years and in this particular era.

F IGURE 14 SOME MORE WORK OF KASEBIER IN ' CAMERA WORK '.

F IGURE 15 BY G ERTRUDE KASEBIER
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F IGURE 16 A KID PLAYING WITH DOG BY GERTRUDE KASEBIER

Straight photography
One can realize that along the years, photography was getting more realistic.
Photographers were more interested in displaying the experience in life back then. One can stop at a very interesting period in photographic history. Although being a neglected photographer, Helen Levitt; was guided in her work by the well-known Henri Cartier Bresson and Walker Evans. Another lady photographer who did a very good job in photographing children but this time in street photography. Starting in black and white and then as soon as color photography came out, she even presented work in color. Her work was more into straight photography and she always made sure to capture the right moment, at times with a hint of humor as well.
"It was a good neighborhood for taking pictures in those days, because that was before television," she told Block. "There was a lot happening. And the older people would be sitting out on the stoops because of the heat. This was... in the late '30s, so those neighborhoods were very active." Levitt
(http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/jan/levitt/020117.levitt.html)
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She managed to capture great images, with most of them going unnoticed looking almost like candid shots. Here are some of her works in monochrome, where one can see how excellent she has captured the daily common life on the streets of New York City in those years.

F IGURE 17 CHILDREN WEARING MASKS FOR HALLOWEEN BY LEVITT

F IGURE 18 CHILDREN PLAYING IN THE STREET, LEVITT

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F IGURE 19 GIRLS PLAYING AND BOY LOOKING UNDER THE GIRL ' S DRESS , LEVITT

F IGURE 20 PHONE BOOTH , LEVITT

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Documentary photography
The same ideology progressed and various artists were more inclined to document through photography, believing in passing on a message. Straight photography and documentary photography go hand in hand and these photographs were used to report in hopes the situation is corrected. One of these photographers was Lewis W. Hine, once a teacher, left everything to follow his passion. He was interested in social welfare and reformation and so he started documenting child-labor abuse. He used to travel and visit places of work, like factories, mines, mills, fields and more. He entered in disguise and photograph children at work. He asked them for some personal details as well to source his documentaries. His work made the government focus more on laws against child-labor abuse and actually enforce them. For his photography he used a Graflex which was new at that time. His photographs are so powerful.

F IGURE 21

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F IGURE 23

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Hine’s powerful images show that he depended only on his camera to make sure his message is clear, in fact he once said
“If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t have to lug a camera”. Hine
(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/lewishine161834.html)

Contemporary Work
“…..photographs open doors into the past but they also allow a look into the future”
– Sally Mann. http://dgh23train.blogspot.com/2012/10/quotes-by-sally-mann-artist-that-we.html This quote defines precisely what another artist, Sally Mann has in mind. Mann is a contemporary lady photographer born in Virginia in mid twentieth century, who’s inspired by the pictorialists and influenced by Julia Margaret Cameron and Eugene Atget. Her photography, portraying her own children, capturing moments in daily life but emphasizing
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on cultural perception on sexuality and death. Her work is intriguing and abstract. She combined technicalities and ideas from the past together with fine art.
“Mann’s photographs suggest that the camera is as adept at depicting the desires of the subconscious as it is rendering the shapes of everyday life.” Andy Grundberg, the New York
Times.
https://artofplatinum.wordpress.com/tag/sally-mann/

F IGURE 25 B LOWING B UBBLES 1987

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F IGURE 26 J ESSIE AT 5, 1987

F IGURE 27
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F IGURE 28 LAST L IGHT

Re Interpretation of paintings
If photography should be considered as art is always debatable in our society. Whether one agrees or not; there is an excellent representation where photography and painting have merged together. These photographs are displaying re-interpretations of historical paintings.
These belong to photographer Bill Gekas, born and living in Melbourne Australia, who is well known for this kind of work. Gekas mainly uses his daughter as his model. He has adapted this style which can be recognized from other artists’ works very easily. Even though he’s reinterpreting paintings from the past, so in some way he is inspired from them, therefore having a particular style; he still manages to give them his artistic twist. He is mainly influenced by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Velazquez. One can admire his mere authentic work below.

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F IGURE 32
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Scrutinizing child portraiture and exploring from where it all commenced was very fruitful. Observing firstly, the methods which accommodated the traditions from a century to another and secondly, the development of how photography was approached and alternated according to different periods; thought me that mainly photography is a developing art which is constantly flourishing. Several points were encouraging to try to implement them in some way in Child Photography.

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Bibliography
Jeffrey, Ian (1981). A Concise History of Photography. Thames and Hudson
Stieglitz, Alfred (1903-1917) Camera Work – The complete Illustrations. Tuschen
Lee, Sri-Kartini (2011) Reading Photography – A sourcebook of critical texts 1921-2000. Lund Humphries
Clarke, Graham (1997) The Photograph. Oxford
Documentary Photography-Life Library of Photography
Mann,Sally. Immediate Family
Frizot, Michael (1998) The New History of Photography. Konemann http://www.photographymuseum.com/sandh1.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270169/Post-mortem-photography-Morbid-gallery-reveals-Victorians-took-photos-DEADrelatives-posing-couches-beds-coffins.html http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2013/dec/02/hidden-mothers-victorian-photography-in-pictures http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/10475137/Early-Victorian-family-portraits-and-the-disappearing-mother.html http://fadedandblurred.com/spotlight/gertrude-kasebier/ http://codystudies.org/kasebier/bio.php http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/33.43.132 http://reelfoto.blogspot.com/2011/09/helen-levitt-new-yorks-unassuming.html http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/jan/levitt/020117.levitt.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/helen-levitt-photographer-renowned-for-her-portraits-of-street-life-in-new-york1670451.html http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Helen-Levitt.html http://www.profotos.com/education/referencedesk/masters/masters/helenlevitt/helenlevitt.shtml http://www.masters-of-photography.com/L/levitt/levitt_articles2.html http://www.laurencemillergallery.com/levitt_just_kids.html http://academic.uprm.edu/laviles/id194.htm http://www.iphf.org/hall-of-fame/lewis-hine/ http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Lewis-Hine.html http://blog.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/2013/04/24/find-out-when-a-photo-was-taken-identify-collodion-positive-ambrotype/ http://theghostdiaries.com/memento-mori-victorian-death-photos/ http://sallymann.com/ http://www.artnet.com/artists/sally-mann/ http://www.gagosian.com/artists/sally-mann http://sallymanninsideandout.blogspot.com/p/influences.html 24

http://www.billgekas.com/about.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2280946/When-Instagram-meets-Rembrandt-Photographer-uses-tricks-light-create-illusionBaroque-masterpiece.html http://digital-photography-school.com/interview-with-fine-art-portrait-photographer-bill-gekas/ http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/adag/hd_adag.htm http://perimeterbooks.com/Linda-Fregni-Nagler-The-Hidden-Mother

Works Cited http://www.eastmanhouse.org/icp/pages/postmortem_port.html http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/jan/levitt/020117.levitt.html http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/lewishine161834.html http://dgh23train.blogspot.com/2012/10/quotes-by-sally-mann-artist-that-we.html

https://artofplatinum.wordpress.com/tag/sally-mann/

Figure 1 http://www.formerdays.com/2012/09/daguerreotype-children-ii.html.......................................................................................... 3
Figure 2 http://www.formerdays.com/2012/09/daguerreotype-children-ii.html.......................................................................................... 3
Figure 3 http://www.formerdays.com/2012/09/daguerreotype-children-ii.html.......................................................................................... 4
Figure 4 http://www.formerdays.com/2012/09/daguerreotype-children-ii.html............................................................................................4
Figure 5 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270169/Post-mortem-photography-Morbid-gallery-reveals-Victorians-tookphotos-DEAD-relatives-posing-couches-beds-coffins.html............................................................................................................................. 6
Figure 6 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270169/Post-mortem-photography-Morbid-gallery-reveals-Victorians-tookphotos-DEAD-relatives-posing-couches-beds-coffins.html............................................................................................................................. 6
Figure 7 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270169/Post-mortem-photography-Morbid-gallery-reveals-Victorians-tookphotos-DEAD-relatives-posing-couches-beds-coffins.html............................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 8 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270169/Post-mortem-photography-Morbid-gallery-reveals-Victorians-tookphotos-DEAD-relatives-posing-couches-beds-coffins.html............................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 9 http://www.domusweb.it/en/art/2013/06/17/the_hidden_mother.html ........................................................................................ 8
Figure 10 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/10475137/Early-Victorian-family-portraits-and-the-disappearingmother.html ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
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Figure 11 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/10475137/Early-Victorian-family-portraits-and-the-disappearingmother.html. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Figure 12 http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2013/dec/02/hidden-mothers-victorian-photography-in-pictures. ... 80
Figure 13 Camera Work 3,1903............................................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 14.Camera Work1,1903 pg96-97 ............................................................................................................................................................ 9
Figure 15 http://fadedandblurred.com/spotlight/gertrude-kasebier/. ......................................................................................................... 9
Figure 16 http://fadedandblurred.com/spotlight/gertrude-kasebier/ ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 17 http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Helen-Levitt.html ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined.4
Figure 18 http://www.laurencemillergallery.com/gallery.htm ..................................................................................................................... 10
Figure 19 http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Helen-Levitt.html ................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 20. http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Helen-Levitt.html ............................................................................ 11
Figure 21 http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/lewis-w-hine-cotton-she-jess-works-for.html ........................................................ 11
Figure 22 http://drx.typepad.com/psychotherapyblog/2008/05/photos-of-the-3.html.............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.7
Figure 23 http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Lewis-Hine.html................................................................................ 12
Figure 24 http://imgfave.com/search/1908.%20%20by%20lewis%20w.%20hine ......................................................................................... 13
Figure 25 http://www.artnet.com/galleries/edwynn-houk-gallery/sally-mann-immediate-family/ ........... Error! Bookmark not defined.9
Figure 26 http://fadedandblurred.com/spotlight/sally-mann/ .................................................................................................................... 20
Figure 27 http://economytoday2012.blogspot.com/2012/11/essay-research-from-book-sally-mann.html............................................ 20
Figure 28 http://sallymann.com/selected-works/familypictures…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………21
Figure 29 http://www.billgekas.com/p1014938437……….......……………………………………………………………………………………....22
Figure 30 http://www.billgekas.com/p1014938437…………………………………………………………………………………………………....22
Figure 31 http://www.billgekas.com/p1014938437.........……………………………………………………………………………………………...23
Figure 32 http://www.billgekas.com/p1014938437.…………………………………………………………………………………………………....23

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