Chapter 1

Pictorial Photography in America 1920

Pictorial Photographers of America

Tennant and Ward, New York Publisher’s Agents

1920

_Editorial Board_ CLARENCE H. WHITE W. H. PORTERFIELD JOHN PAUL EDWARDS DWIGHT A. DAVIS

_Committee on Publication_ HENRY HOYT MOORE WALTER L. EHRICH RAY GREENLEAF JOHN A. TENNANT

ILLUSTRATIONS

APRIL FLURRIES _By _W. A. ALCOCK, _Brooklyn, N.Y._ PUCKACHIPE—SEAGULL _By _ELIZABETH R. ALLEN, _Moorestown, N.J._ MY LITTLE GRAY HOME IN THE WEST _By _GEORGE M. ALLEN, _Portland, Ore._ THE BUDDHA _By _FRED R. ARCHER, _Los Angeles, Cal._ ISLANDERS _By _LAURA ADAMS ARMER, _Berkeley, Cal._ ANN SPENCER _By _JESSIE TARBOX BEALS, _New York_ EARLY MORNING _By _DAVID W. BONNAR, _Buffalo, N. Y._ A BIT OF HOME LIFE _By _WILL D. BRODHUN, _Wilkes-Barre, Pa._ A MOMENT’S REST _By _GERTRUDE L. BROWN, _Evanston, Ill._ DANCERS _By _JOHN C. BURKHARDT, _Portland, Ore._ DOUARNENEZ, FINISTÈRE _By _DR. A. D. CHAFFEE, _New York_ RHEIMS _By _ARTHUR D. CHAPMAN, _New York_ MICHIO ITORO _By _ALVIN LANGDON COLBURN, _New York_ THE STREET _By _ALFRED COHN, _Brooklyn, N. Y._ ST. JOHN’S CATHEDRAL _By _JAMES COPELLA, _New York_ MR. MATSUMOTO KOSHIRO AS “TCHIKAWA GOYEMON” (THE ROBIN HOOD OF JAPAN) _By _C. P. CROWTHER, _Kobe, Japan_ SPRING O’ THE YEAR _By _HELEN W. DREW, _Montclair, N. J._ THE LIFTING MIST _By _JERRY D. DREW, _Montclair, N. J._ THE DOORWAY _By _DWIGHT A. DAVIS, _Worcester, Mass._ HIGH BRIDGE _By _EDWARD R. DICKSON, _New York City_ MRS. VERNON CASTLE _By _DE MEYER, _New York_ BOATS _By _E. G. DUNNING, _New York_ COMING TO SCHOOL _By _VERNON EVERETT DUROC, _Brooklyn, N. Y._ STUDY _By _WILLIAM B. DYER, _Portland, Ore._ DESIGN FOR A TAPESTRY _By _JOHN PAUL EDWARDS, _Sacramento, Cal._ STUDY _By _ADELAIDE WALLACH EHRICH, _New York_ LANDSCAPE _By _ELEANOR C. ERVING, _Albany, N. Y._ SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN _By _W. H. EVANS, _Wilkes-Barre, Pa._ SIDEWALK TREASURES _By _O. E. FISCHER, M. D., _Detroit, Mich._ THE GIRL FROM DELHI _By _LOUIS FLECKENSTEIN, _Los Angeles, Cal._ FIFTY YEARS _By _FREDERICK FRITTITA, _Baltimore, Md._ WATER SCENE _By _JOHN WALLACE GILLIES, _New York_ THE MARBLE CUTTERS _By _LAURA GILPIN, _Colorado Springs, Col._ WALPI _By _FORMAN HANNA, _Globe, Ariz._ THE SHORE LINE _By _G. H. S. HARDING, _Berkeley, Cal._ APRIL SNOW _By _EDWARD HEIM, _New York_ DAY DREAMS _By _G. W. HARTING, _New York_ IN THE ARBOR _By _ANTOINETTE B. HERVEY, _New York_ MISS H. _By _GEORGE HENRY HIGH, _Chicago, Ill._ SUNSHINE _By _L. WILLIS HOOPS, _New York_ THE WHITE HAT _By _G. B. HOLLISTER, _Corning, N. Y._ DESIGN _By _BERNARD S. HORNE, _Princeton, N. J._ CITY STREET _By _BLANCHE C. HUNGERFORD (MRS. LATIMER), _High Bridge, N. J._ COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY _By _DR. CHARLES H. JAEGER, _New York_ PORTRAIT OF A CHILD _By _DORIS U. JAEGER, _New York_ THE VALE OF THE SHADOW _By _ARTHUR F. KALES, _Los Angeles, Cal._ PORTRAIT _By _GERTRUDE KASEBIER, _New York_ OLD HILL TOWN _By _WILLIAM KRIEBEL, _Philadelphia, Pa._ SOLITUDE _By _W. R. LATIMER, _High Bridge, N. J._ ELLEN _By _SOPHIE L. LAUFFER, _Brooklyn, N. Y._ MASTER JOHN SPEER _By _GEORGE P. LESTER, _Bloomfield, N. J._ MOUNT ADAMS OF THE NORTHERN LAKES _By _FRANCIS ORVILLE LIBBY, _Portland, Me._ MISTS TO-DAY—CLEAR ANON _By _EDWIN LOKER, _St. Louis, Mo._ TREES AND CLOUDS _By _DR. WILLIAM F. MAKK, _Los Angeles, Cal._ PLAYER ON THE YIT-KIM _By _MARGRETHE MATHER, _Los Angeles, Cal._ ON LAKE PATZCUARO, MEXICO _By _OSCAR MAURER, _Los Angeles, Cal._ ALONG THE WHARF _By _HOLMES I. METTEE, _Baltimore, Md._ THE MARSH—EVENING _By _J. GEORGE MIDGLEY, _Salt Lake City, Utah_ THE DANCER _By _H. W. MINNS, _Akron, Ohio_ SNOW PATTERN _By _H. REMICK NEESON, _Baltimore, Md._ THE FARMER _By _HENRY HOYT MOORE, _Brooklyn, N. Y._ STEAM UP _By _J. W. NEWTON, _Columbus, Ohio_ EVE REPENTENT _By _IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM PARTRIDGE, _San Francisco, Cal._ SWANS _By _G. HOUSON PAYNE, JR., _Baltimore, Md._ MOTHER AND CHILD _By _MARGARET RHODES PEATTIE, _Chicago, Ill._ PLACING A PICTURE _By _LEO POKRAS, _Brooklyn, N. Y._ TWILIGHT’S MYSTERY _By _W. H. PORTERFIELD, _Buffalo, N. Y._ THE MORNING BOAT _By _E. M. PRATT, _Tracy, Cal._ SWEET SIXTEEN _By _MRS. WILLIAM H. RAU, _Philadelphia, Pa._ MOTHER _By _JANE REECE, _Dayton, Ohio_ THE HUSBANDMAN _By _O. C. REITER, _Pittsburgh, Pa._ THE LAST OF HIS RACE _By _L. M. A. ROY, _La Crosse, Wis._ PENNSYLVANIA STATION, NEW YORK _By _DR. D. J. RUZICKA, _New York_ A GLIMPSE OF PLEASANT VALLEY _By _J. G. SARVENT, _Kansas City, Mo._ THE VALLEY BEYOND OUR HILL _By _OTTO C. SHULTE, _San Franciso, Cal._ ELYSIAN PARK VISTA _By _DAVID J. SHEAHAN, _Los Angeles, Cal._ IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE WASATCH _By _THOMAS O. SHECKELL, _Salt Lake City, Utah_ DOORWAY OF ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL _By _WILLIAM GORDON SHIELDS, _New York_ PORTRAIT _By _MRS. STERLING SMITH, _San Diego, Cal._ THE COLUMNS _By _E. RADIKER STANDCLIFF, _Elmira, N. Y._ TOWARD TAMALPAIS _By _W. H. STEPHENS, _San Franciso, Cal._ MAE MURRAY _By _FORD STERLING, _Los Angeles, Cal._ MARGARET _By _JOHN H. STOCKSDALE, _Baltimore, Md._ THE CANAL _By _M. SUGIMOTO, _New York_ STILL LIFE _By _ELIZABETH TALCOTT, _Elmwood, Conn._ THE HOUSE O’ DREAMS _By _WILLIAM H. THOMPSON, _Hartford, Conn._ WITH FACE SET TOWARD THE WESTERN FRONT _By _LIEUT. EDWARD LAROCQUE TINKER, U. S. N., _New York_ SHIFTING SAND _By _CHARLES VANDERVELDE, _Grand Rapids, Mich._ RUTH ST. DENIS _By _THE LATE LIEUT. LUKE R. VICKERS, _Church Creek, Md._ THE NEW YEAR’S EDITION _By _WILL H. WALKER, _Portland, Ore._ GIRL WITH THE FAN _By _MABEL WATSON, _Pasadena, Cal._ ELEANOR _By _DELIGHT WESTON, _Blue Hill, Me._ EPILOGUE _By _EDWARD WESTON, _Glendale, Cal._ MRS. M. _By _LEONARD WESTPHALEN, _Chicago, Ill._ THE FAMILY _By _CLARENCE H. WHITE, _New York_ THE FLOWER GARDEN _By _CORNELIA F. WHITE, _New York_ THROUGH THE WINDOW _By _HAZEL JANE WIEGNER, _Philadelphia, Pa._ MARIONETTE _By _EDITH R. WILSON, _Mount Vernon, N. Y._ JEAN _By _MILDRED R. WILSON, _Orange, N. J._ CITY BEYOND _By _N. S. WOOLDRIDGE, _Pittsburgh, Pa._

CONTENTS

FOREWORD The Pictorial Photographers of America Pictorial Photography in New Jersey Pictorial Photograpny in Maine Pictorial Photography in Massachusetts Pictorial Photograpky in Maryland Middle West Activities and the Pittsburgh Salon Pictorial Photography in the Far West Illustrations The following is a partial list of photographic organizations in America which are encouraging pictorial Photography

FOREWORD

_By _CLARENCE H. WHITE _President of the Pictorial Photographers of America_

To many people photography is merely a mechanical process. To an increasing number, however, photography is being seen as an art, by which personal impressions of nature or human life may be expressed as truly as by the brush. These workers in photography see in it a medium by which the action of light upon sensitive surfaces may be so controlled as really to interpret scenes and persons in the individualistic spirit of a true art. From every part of our country come evidences of the growing appreciation of photography as a pictorial medium. Exhibitions in many museums which have hitherto been indifferent to pictures made with the lens have opened the eyes of the public to the possibilities of the camera. Clubs of photographic workers in various cities have maintained or fostered the movement. The lure of the moving picture has stimulated the interest of countless multitudes in photography, and the occasional presentation of fine pictorial work in this direction has given a prophecy of better things to come. The time, therefore, seems ripe to present in this book a collection of the work of American pictorial photographers in all sections of the country. Many of these workers are members of the organization known as the Pictorial Photographers of America; but the appeal for photographic material for this book has been confined to no one society or club, but has been widely inclusive of associations and individuals, and it is believed that the work here presented is fairly representative of the best American effort along these lines at the present time.

It is the hope and intention of the organization that publishes this book to stimulate interest in this branch of pictorial art. This is believed to be the first attempt in America to give a comprehensive presentation of the status of pictorial photography as illustrated by the product of many of its best workers. As such it is commended to the consideration of photographers both professional and amateur, of artists and art lovers, and of the public generally.

THE PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA

The Association’s Work and Aim

_By_ EDWARD R. DICKSON

The Pictorial Photographers of America is an association having in mind solely the development of the art of photography from a standpoint of educational value. Its position is unique, since the worker is afforded not only an opportunity to exhibit his pictures in various museums and art galleries, but is made to feel that maintaining photographic standards and studying the arts for breadth of view are of chief importance.

Some of the advantages which photography offers are worth restating. It helps to draw one closer to nature and to seek fresh air. Through the exercise and cultivation of choice, it teaches how to decorate the home, to dress with taste, and to keep an alert eye and mind on the passing events of the world. Because the Association knows that photography is able to teach these things, it sought the aid of art museums and public libraries to conduct photographic exhibitions so that children and adults may not only see fine examples of the work of the camera in the hands of artists, but be led thereby to appreciate more fully the value of photography as an aid to interesting composition and a quickening of the eye in realizing the beauty of sunlight and shadows which flit around us much unrecognized at times. Succeeding in gaining the sympathetic co-operation of seventeen museums, in the winter of 1917-18 the Association collected, from many of the most important workers in this country, more than two hundred prints, which were divided into two groups and exhibited as follows:

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Milwaukee Art Institute, Art Institute of Chicago, City Art Museum (St. Louis), Toledo Museum of Art, Detroit Museum of Art, Cleveland Art Museum, Cincinnati Museum of Art, Morristown Library, Newark Museum Association, New Britain (Conn.) Institute, Worcester Art Museum, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Guild of Allied Arts (Buffalo), Grand Rapids Art Association, University of Oklahoma, New Orleans Art Association.

There was also held in New York City an exhibition of the work of the New England, New Jersey and Connecticut photographers, and among the immediate activities of the Association will be the holding in New York of exhibitions of the work of members of the Pacific Coast and other places, so that there may be established a fuller understanding of the points of view among the various pictorialists throughout the country.

The Association hopes to establish, in designated cities, pictorial centers where photographs may always be seen, and centers for intercourse and for exchange of views among workers. As a result of its plans, there will soon be opened a branch of the Pictorial Photographers of America, which will be called the Pacific Coast Chapter, embracing workers in the following States: Oregon, California, Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah. Meetings will be held monthly, and lectures and exhibitions arranged in co-operation with the parent body in New York. As soon as this chapter has begun active work, another will be opened in the New England and Middle West States, modeled after the California chapter. In this way the Association hopes to be of national service in the advancement of photography on educational lines, and it asks the sympathy of the public as well as that of every worker of the camera in America.

Among other of its plans are: honoring those who have given valued service to photography; the formation of a library; the establishment of a home headquarters; the distribution of knowledge tending toward the making of better catalogues; the art of hanging pictures so that their individual beauty may be enhanced; the application of the motion picture to pictorial expression; the recommendation of books on the development of the individual, as well as others relating to the study of contemporary arts, so that, through an acquaintance with all these, there may be brought to the student a new and an individual approach in his photographic work.

The Association holds monthly meetings at the National Arts Club, 119 East 19th Street, New York, where exhibitions and lectures are given. Admission is free. The Association now publishes its first annual “Pictorial Photography in America,” which comprises the work of important pictorialists in this country, whether or not members of the Association. And in following out so broad a plan the Association has demonstrated to its friends that its main interests lie in the presentation of fine work, little caring who the individual may be. As soon as the world has resumed its normal stride, the Association will extend invitations for an exhibition of foreign work to be shown in America. In turn, the Association will be glad to send an exhibition of American work abroad to those who desire to see, more intimately than we are able to do by the process of reproduction, what American pictorialists are doing. In another volume we hope to present the work of foreign pictorialists.

Plans are now being made whereby the original prints selected for this Annual will be exhibited, under the direction of the American Federation of Arts, in the galleries of many art museums throughout the country.

Herewith we list the names of the present officers and executive members of the Association, as well as those who are members of the Council having to do with pictorial activities in the different States. Membership in the Association is open to men and women of good character and ambitious intentions, including those who, though not photographers, are interested in the development of the art.

CLARENCE H. WHITE, _President_ DR. A. D. CHAFFEE, _Vice-President_ GERTRUDE KASEBIER, _Hon. Vice-President_ PROF. CHARLES F. CHANDLER, _Hon. Vice-President_ DR. CHARLES H. JAEGER, _Treasurer._ EDWARD R. DICKSON, _Recording Secretary_ MARGARET WATKINS, _Corresponding Secretary_

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

WALTER L. EHRICH RAY GREENLEAF BERNARD S. HORNE CHARLES J. MARTIN HENRY HOYT MOORE DR. D. J. RUZICKA W. G. SHIELDS ADELE C. SHREVE

COUNCIL

_Arizona_ FORMAN G. HANNA

_California_ JOHN PAUL EDWARDS LOUIS FLECKENSTEIN

_Connecticut_ GEORGE S. HAWLEY

_Florida_ DR. ADDISON O’NEILL

_Illinois_ EUGENE HUTCHINSON MARGARET RHODES PEATTIE

_Indiana_ ALBERT ERNEST SCHAAF

_Iowa_ CHARLES B. KEELER

_Maine_ SYLVAN B. PHILLIPS

_Massachusetts_ DWIGHT A. DAVIS WALTER G. WOLFE

_Michigan_ HERMAN GABRIEL ELEANOR W. WILLARD

_Missouri_ EDWIN LOKER

_New Jersey_ JOSEPH R. ASHMORE

_New York State_ SPENCER KELLOGG, JR. GEORGE B. HOLLISTER

_New York City_ EDWARD R. DICKSON WALTER L. EHRICH ANTOINETTE B. HERVEY DR. CHARLES H. JAEGER MERVIN W. PALMER CLARENCE H. WHITE EDITH R. WILSON THOMAS COKE WATKINS

_Ohio_ JANE REECE AUSTIN R. BREED CARLE SEMON

_Oregon_ CLEMENTINE HIRSCH

_Pennsylvania_ WILL D. BRODHUN ELIAS GOLDENSKY MAURICE L. FLEISHER MRS. M. W. WILTSE

_Utah_ THOMAS O. SHECKELL

_Wisconsin_ B. F. LANGLAND

_England_ ALVIN LANGDON COLBURN

_Canada_ CHARLES H. BARNARD

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PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN NEW JERSEY

_By_ LOUIS F. BUCHER _of the Newark Camera Club, Inc._

In New Jersey, as well as in other States, pictorial photography was at its lowest ebb during the period of the war. The official ban on the use of the camera in places that presented just the sort of material which stirs the enthusiasm of the amateur photographer tended so to dampen his ardor that his trusty “box” was left at home to accumulate dust.

But not for long, for a New Jersey cameraist, with the vision of a seer, saw an opportunity to use his beloved instrument in a far-reaching service. His enthusiasm was soon imparted to fellow members of the Newark Camera Club, and there quickly followed the birth of the Red Triangle Camera Club, affiliated with the local Y. M. C. A. Its object was pithily expressed in its slogan, “A picture of home to every soldier overseas”—at least to every Newark soldier in service.

While the members of the Camera Club were prompted solely by a desire to serve, it was not long before there came responses in the form of letters of gratitude from the soldier boys that heartened them to renewed activity. The written messages frequently attested that the pictures of the home folks sent by the Camera Club members were the only ones that had reached foreign shores.

As a stepping stone to something even greater, we have organized the Associated Camera Clubs of America, with a view to linking the activities of camera clubs and societies, the end to be sought being the creating of greater interest in exhibitions, and interchanges of lantern slides and prints. The prime object, of course, is to promote and cultivate the art-sense through the science of photography.

If a camera club does not exist in the community in which the reader resides, lend your services to the formation of one. The members of the Associated Camera Clubs of America stand ready to do their utmost to assist an infant organization on its way to success.

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PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPNY IN MAINE

_By _FRANCIS O. LIBBY

Maine, the State of forest and lakes, does not hold the position in pictorial photography warranted by her natural beauties. It would not be unreasonable, considering the advantages of the land and the opportunities offered by the varying atmospheric conditions, particularly along the coast, to expect that there would be many pictorialists of high rank in the State; but it is a lamentable fact that there are not. After all, the making of pictures with a camera is to a large extent a matter of education and training—not so much in the way of overcoming the technical difficulties of the medium, though of course this must be learned too, but in such vital matters as composition, choice of subject matter, unity, simplicity, and the like. Then, given the vision, the pictorial photographer is born.

This preliminary training and the art education of the beginner can best be obtained in clubs; and in Maine the two centers of photographic activity are Portland and Bangor, in both of which cities are active camera clubs, each affiliated with the local art society and each holding annual exhibitions in the spring of the year, at which workers from all parts of the country show their pictures. During the war these clubs have been doing little more than marking time, but now that at last days of peace have come again, we feel that the future holds prospects of great promise to us. For one reason or another the men whose names were known ten or fifteen years ago seem to have dropped out and their places are being filled by new blood, men with high ideals and aspirations, who are not content merely with reproducing, by means of their cameras, pretty scenes and places, but who believe that photography is capable of much more—of showing not only the physical facts, but the very spirit of nature herself—a true impressionism; and it is the task of these men to place Maine in the position she should hold in pictorial work.

During the past year much has been accomplished by a very few men, and through these men Maine has been represented at all the largest and best salons, not only in this country and Canada, but also in England at the London Salon. Prints by the multiple gum process are favored by some of the Portland workers, but the use of this process as a medium of expression is limited to a few men, and the most of the large prints produced are enlargements on bromide paper, as is probably the case generally throughout the country. This is perhaps somewhat to be regretted, for although bromide paper is capable of producing very fine prints when the subject is exactly adapted to it, still it does not permit of the personal control afforded by some of the other processes, and of course this is a handicap to the pictorial worker.

As before stated, the pictorial output of the State during the past year has been limited to the work of a few men, but this condition is not going to continue for long. The clubs and societies are bending every effort toward the encouragement of the new workers, and already some very creditable work has been produced, and the coming year should see a worthy showing from Maine at all the salons.

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PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN MASSACHUSETTS

_By_ DWIGHT A. DAVIS

In Massachusetts, as in other parts of the country, war-time activities interfered to a noticeable extent with the cause of pictorial photography. The interference was perhaps less marked than in some other sections, where more of the prominent workers were actively engaged at the front. The difficulty in securing materials, amounting now and then to utter impossibility, was, however, the same, and there was the same falling off in enthusiasm, due to the demands on one’s heart and pocketbook from across the sea. In this crisis organized effort might have been especially helpful, but it is just in this respect that Massachusetts has always been weak. Her workers have been widely scattered from the Berkshires to the shore, and such local clubs as have here and there existed have not been deeply or permanently influential. In Boston there was the once famous Photo Clan, with Garo, Eicheim, and Schuman as its leading spirits, but that has long since ceased to be an active force. On the other hand, the Boston Young Men’s Christian Union Camera Club and the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts have lately come into new prominence through their efforts to stimulate interest and afford frequent opportunities to view exhibitions of the best in photographic art. The former held, during the past winter, excellent one-man exhibits, in which work of such prominent pictorialists as John Paul Edwards, Dr. Rupert Lovejoy, Dwight A. Davis, Francis O. Libby, John H. Garo, Edward H. Weston, and Arthur Hammond was shown.

But, in spite of these various influences, the workers of Massachusetts for the most part pursue solitary ways, with little enough—all too little, some would say—of the advantages that come from intimate association. There is, however, another side of the shield. It is at least questionable whether such strongly marked personality as appears in the work of Seeley, Garo, Davis, Hammond, Eicheim, Buttler, the Allen sisters, and a dozen others who might be mentioned, would be possible if the workers of this section were under the closely dominating influence of a centralized group, itself dominated by a single individual of exceptional powers. Such a state of affairs has sometimes been observed in other parts of the country, and the results have not always been advantageous to the interests of the individual workers. Under such conditions as exist in Massachusetts, the Pictorial Photographers of America has come as a boon, since it affords just the kind of stimulus most needed. Massachusetts has been swift to avail herself of the advantages thus offered. At the recent exhibition of the work of New England and New Jersey pictorialists, held in New York, Massachusetts was represented by 16 out of a total of 27 exhibitors, with 64 out of a total of 107 prints—a showing decidedly creditable to the old Bay State.

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PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPKY IN MARYLAND

_By_ H. R. NEESON