By Suzanne Révy
Since its invention in the late 1830’s, photography has been open to women in a way that, say painting— for centuries— was not. Many of the medium’s earliest and most prolific practitioners were women who frequently pointed their cameras at children. One such photographer, Gertrude Käsebier (1852-1934), came to photography relatively late in life, enrolling at the Pratt Institute in 1889 at age thirty-seven (when her children were adolescents) with the intention of becoming a portrait painter. But by 1894, she had committed entirely to photography, recalling “Hitherto, I had given to indoor portraiture no attention whatsoever. But one day when it was too rainy to go into the fields to paint, I made a time exposure in the house, simply as an experiment. The result was so surprising to me that from that moment I knew I had found my vocation.” Although pictorial and of their time, Käsebier’s portraits display a modern sensibility and reflect her keen and lively personality.
When Käsebier’s husband became ill in 1895, she seized upon the opportunity to open her own portrait studio to help support her family. In order to recruit business, she entered (and won) photography contests, began exhibiting her work and befriended the highly influential photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Käsebier made portraits of several well-known figures such as writer and humorist Mark Twain, sculptor Auguste Rodin, Sioux activist Sitkala Sa and several strong portraits of Stieglitz. Commenting on her style, Käsebier wrote,” One of the most difficult things to learn in painting is what to leave out. How to keep things simple enough. The same applies to photography. The value of composition cannot be overestimated; upon it depends the harmony and sentiment.” Her studio became a great success.
Many of Kasebier’s portraits of adults are powerful and I share the opinion that her sexually charged Portrait of Miss N is a masterpiece. Her pictures of American Indians are particularly notable, as she successfully resisted the temptation to turn them into clichés, undoubtedly owing to her many childhood friendships in Colorado. Nonetheless, I find her strongest work explored ideas around motherhood, the kindergarten movement, childhood, and the institution of marriage. Pictures such as Blessed Art Thou Among Women (1899), Harmony (Family) made in 1901 and The Heritage of Motherhood (1904) display a telling eye for women who were accomplished but perhaps struggling, whether in the role of spouse or parent, or with the loss of a child.
Käsebier’s madonna-like images of mothers and their children reveal an intense focus on toddlers who regard their world with energetic curiosity. Her photographs offer a view of childhood that embraces that sense of individuality and play. At the same time, however, her own unhappy marriage was the impetus for Yoked and Muzzled – Marriage (1915), a biting commentary on an institution that, intractable at the time, left many people deeply unhappy – including Käsebier and her husband. Suggesting that when mothers and children are supported, rather than “yoked,” they will flourish, Käsebier’s views are strikingly feminist and progressive. Happy Mother’s Day!
Resources:
Gertrude Käsebier, The Photographer and Photographs by Barbara L. Micheals, Harry N. Abrams 1992
International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum