Studying photography as cultural history since 1980. Curator of Photographs, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution 1992-2000. Biographer of Mathew Brady, and Philippe Halsman. Currently at work on a history of photography made for the printed page, 1890-2005 -- Race and representation in the FSA, Romana Javitz and Arturo Schomburg at NYPL -- Photography in the public sphere: Joe Selle and Fox Movie Flash and Street Vendor Photography around the world. Living in Rochester, NY and NYC. Supervisors: Carl Chiarenza, Sam Bass Warner, Jr., Cecilia Tichi,
Abstract A collection of letters, journals, scrapbooks, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, cartes-de-vis... more Abstract A collection of letters, journals, scrapbooks, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, cartes-de-visites, and cabinet cards made by George Kendall Warren (1832–84) documents both an important career and the evolution of celebrity photography during the years following the Civil War (figure 1). Warren began his career in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1851 as a maker of daguerreotypes; by 1858, he had begun to produce photographs on salted paper. That year, Warren began an itinerant trade, travelling to prestigious schools and colleges in New England, where he made portraits of the graduating class, the faculty, landscape and architectural views of the campus to fill personal albums. Many of these albums can now be found in archives of universities such as Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Princeton, and the US Military Academy at West Point. Warren established a series of studios, moving from Lowell to Cambridge and finally to Boston in 1870. His carte-de-visite portraits of such notable New Englanders as Edward Everett, Louisa May Alcott, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and John Greenleaf Whittier sold widely. He also made portraits of stage and concert stars who performed in Boston, such as Charlotte Cushman, Mary Anderson, and Ole Bull.1
Abstract A collection of letters, journals, scrapbooks, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, cartes-de-vis... more Abstract A collection of letters, journals, scrapbooks, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, cartes-de-visites, and cabinet cards made by George Kendall Warren (1832–84) documents both an important career and the evolution of celebrity photography during the years following the Civil War (figure 1). Warren began his career in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1851 as a maker of daguerreotypes; by 1858, he had begun to produce photographs on salted paper. That year, Warren began an itinerant trade, travelling to prestigious schools and colleges in New England, where he made portraits of the graduating class, the faculty, landscape and architectural views of the campus to fill personal albums. Many of these albums can now be found in archives of universities such as Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Princeton, and the US Military Academy at West Point. Warren established a series of studios, moving from Lowell to Cambridge and finally to Boston in 1870. His carte-de-visite portraits of such notable New Englanders as Edward Everett, Louisa May Alcott, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and John Greenleaf Whittier sold widely. He also made portraits of stage and concert stars who performed in Boston, such as Charlotte Cushman, Mary Anderson, and Ole Bull.1
This is the text of paper delivered at the National Gallery on May 18, 2017 on the occasion of th... more This is the text of paper delivered at the National Gallery on May 18, 2017 on the occasion of the National Gallery's exhibition East of the Mississippi. There are no illustrations. An updated, illustrated version will appear soon.
John Moran (1831-1902) was known to his peers as the first art photographer in America, yet we don't know him today. This paper explores why he is being rediscovered now. Moran made his photographs for the top photographers in America in the 1850s, 60s,and 70s. -- they were in Philadelphia. Right time, wrong place, as Philadelphia lost its prominence in history and culture after the Civil War,. But in Moran's day, he joined a community of amateurs, scientists, intellectuals and historians who all found photography useful to their work. Moran went on expeditions with his brother Thomas Moran, who later became famous for his lush landscape paintings of the American West. His work was collected by a group of avid historians, determined to preserve evidence of Philadelphia's 18th century past. Moran's photographs record both the buildings and the decay that overtook them. Moran also perfected the art of stereography, and composed in 3 dimensions. But his work was not modern, and never abstract, nor did it ever turn away from subject matter. Moran admired lithographs of the Barbizon artists, the prints of Turner, and Rembrandt. He learned the history of art through the excellent private print collections of Philadelphia collectors. His photographs clearly came out of the print-making tradition. John Moran stopped working in the early 1870s, turned to painting and journalism, and died in New York in the year Alfred Stieglitz founded the Photo Secession. Historians of photography have much to learn from John Moran.
From 1934 through 1938, LIFE magazine took shape, building at first on TIME INC magazines and pub... more From 1934 through 1938, LIFE magazine took shape, building at first on TIME INC magazines and publications including the newsreel THE MARCH OF TIME and FOUR YEARS, a one volume celebration of the first year of MARCH. And, after November 1936, when the first issue sold out and put the enterprise in debt, two more years passed while LIFE worked to invent a new form of pictorial communication that could attract advertisers, and hold readers. Moreover, Luce and his editors, especially Dan Longwell, were well aware that half the pages -- and half the pictures -- would come from ads. Among the most useful pictures came from the movie industry, stills for upcoming films became stories, and one educational movie, published in selected frames, showed "The Birth of a Baby" and turned LIFE into a must-read periodical after it got banned from newsstands around the country. This essay relies on newly available Time Inc. archive, and rarely discussed early issues of LIFE itself.
An historical Survey of photographic images on the printed page, 1890-2005, to accompany the firs... more An historical Survey of photographic images on the printed page, 1890-2005, to accompany the first international survey of magazine essay journalism from the Golden Age of Magazines to the Digital Era. This book was conceived to celebrate the 50th anniversary of World Press Photo. THINGS AS THEY ARE won the ICP/Infinity Prize for Best Book of 2005.
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There are no illustrations. An updated, illustrated version will appear soon.
John Moran (1831-1902) was known to his peers as the first art photographer in America, yet we don't know him today. This paper explores why he is being rediscovered now. Moran made his photographs for the top photographers in America in the 1850s, 60s,and 70s. -- they were in Philadelphia. Right time, wrong place, as Philadelphia lost its prominence in history and culture after the Civil War,. But in Moran's day, he joined a community of amateurs, scientists, intellectuals and historians who all found photography useful to their work. Moran went on expeditions with his brother Thomas Moran, who later became famous for his lush landscape paintings of the American West. His work was collected by a group of avid historians, determined to preserve evidence of Philadelphia's 18th century past. Moran's photographs record both the buildings and the decay that overtook them. Moran also perfected the art of stereography, and composed in 3 dimensions. But his work was not modern, and never abstract, nor did it ever turn away from subject matter. Moran admired lithographs of the Barbizon artists, the prints of Turner, and Rembrandt. He learned the history of art through the excellent private print collections of Philadelphia collectors. His photographs clearly came out of the print-making tradition. John Moran stopped working in the early 1870s, turned to painting and journalism, and died in New York in the year Alfred Stieglitz founded the Photo Secession. Historians of photography have much to learn from John Moran.
THINGS AS THEY ARE won the ICP/Infinity Prize for Best Book of 2005.