Photographic Portraiture

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Photographic Portraiture - The Baroque

COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAITURE

"THE BIG SIX"

BUSINESS & THE BAROQUE

1880-1915 BY THOMAS YANUL, copyright

THERE WAS A PERIOD IN PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAITURE WHICH I REFER TO AS "BUSINESS & THE BAROQUE ". AND ALTHOUGH THE DATES ARE SOMEWHAT SOFT, ONE CAN ROUGHLY CONSIDER THAT PERIOD TO BE ABOUT 1880 TO 1915. THIS IS DUE TO A CONVERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGY, THE POPULARITY OF THE PERSONAL PORTRAIT, AND - AS IT PERTAINS TO WOMEN - THEIR COSTUMERY OF THE PERIOD. ALL THIS, COMBINED WITH A CERTAIN STANDARD OF ARTISTIC STYLE AND KNOWLEDGE CARRIED OVER FROM THE RIGORS OF RENAISSANCE-STYLE SCHOOLING, THE PERIOD PRODUCED A STYLISH AND MONUMENTAL RECORD OF THE UPPER AND MIDDLE CLASSES. THE RESULTS: MEN WERE PHOTOGRAPHED

FOR BUSINESS - SERIOUS AND CONSERVATIVE. WOMEN DRESSED FOR ELEGANCE - THE BAROQUE.. THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS KNEW THE ART OF BUSINESS, AND THE BUSINESS OF ART.

ALTHOUGH MANY PHOTOGRAPHERS WERE MAKING PORTRAITS AS A COMMERCIAL ENDEAVOR,

ONLY A RELATIVELY FEW ROSE ABOVE THE STATUS OF ORDINARY. IT IS A FEW OF THESE "CREME DE LA CREME" INDIVIDUALS THAT THIS SITE IS INTENDED TO FOCUS ON. THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS, (FOR THE MOST PART MEN BUT NOT ALL) PRACTICED A TECHNICAL SKILL NOT MUCH DIFFERENT THAN A PAINTER USING BRUSHES AND OILS, BUT WHO ADVANCED THE USE OF THE TECHNOLOGY TO AN ART FORM JUST AS TRADITIONAL PAINTERS HAD DONE.

THIS SITE IS NOT MEANT TO COVER ALL THE MASTERS OF THIS MEDIUM, BUT SIMPLY PROVIDE A SAMPLING OF THESE INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE REPRESENTATIVE OF THEIR DAY.

AND IN THEIR DAY THESE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTISTS WERE WIDELY KNOWN AND REVERED BY BOTH THEIR PEERS AND TO A GREAT DEGREE, THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

BY "GENERAL PUBLIC" OF COURSE I MEAN THE MIDDLE AND UPPER CLASSES. THOSE WHO HAD THE ECONOMIC WHEREWITHALL TO ACQUIRE "HIGH CLASS GOODS".

AND ALTHOUGH NOT WANTING TO GET INTO THE ARGUEMENT OVER COMMERCIAL VERSUS ARTISTIC ENDEAVOR, LET ME SIMPLY SAY THAT I PERSONALLY FEEL THE THRUST OF 20TH CENTURY NOTORIETY OF "ARTISTS" OVER COMMERCIAL PRACTITIONERS OF ANY ART IS WAY OUT OF BALANCE. NUFF SAID...

TO BEGIN, LET ME SAY THAT ALTHOUGH I CAN NAME NAMES, AND SHOW PHOTOS OF WORKS

OF THESE MASTER PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHERS, ONE OF THE KEY ASPECTS IN THE QUALITY

OF THE WORK CANNOT BE APPRECIATED ON AN ELECTRONIC SCREEN, OR EVEN IN THE PRINTED MEDIUM. THE NATURE OF THE MATERIALS WHICH WERE PRINTED ON - THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPERS TO BE SPECIFIC - CANNOT BE KNOWN WITHOUT SEEING THE ORIGINALS. THERE IS

NO SUBSTITUTE TO VIEWING AN ORIGINAL PRINT. MUCH LIKE A FINE PAINTING, SEEING THE

ORIGINAL IS THE ULTIMATE APPRECIATION.

UNFORTUNATELY, IN TODAY'S ARTISTIC MARKET, IT IS RARE INDEED TO BE ABLE TO VISIT WHAT IS TOUTED AS A FINE ART MUSEUM AND SEE WORKS BY COMMERICAL ARTISTS.

WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS, YOU DON'T SEE THEM. IT BRINGS TO MIND THE REJECTION OF NORMAN ROCKWELL BY THE FINE ART COMMUNITY AT LARGE. AND YOU MIGHT THROW IN THE WYETH COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS ALSO. FORTUNATELY, THE PUBLIC IN SOME CASES DISREGARDS THE CRITICS AND APPRECIATES SOMETHING ON ITS OWN MERIT.

BUT TO GO ON WITH THE PURPOSE OF THIS SITE. I HAVE GATHERED TOGETHER A SMALL AMOUNT OF MATERIAL RELATING TO A SMALL GROUP OF PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO, IN THEIR DAY, WERE KNOWN AS THE "BIG SIX". THE TERM WAS FOUND IN A 1926 PUBLICATION ENTITLED

"WHO'S WHO IN PROFESSIONAL PORTRAITURE IN AMERICA" COPYRIGHT 1927 BY THE ABEL PUBLISHING CO., CLEVELAND, OH. THE BOOK WAS DEDICATED "TO THOSE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE CONSTANTLY STRIVEN TO RAISE THE STANDARD OF PROFESSIONAL PORTRAITURE WITH THE CAMERA".

THE STATEMENT WHICH CAUGHT MY ATTENTION WAS A KIND OF REMINISCENCE IN THE BACK

OF THE BOOK GIVING DEFERENCE TO THE PAST. IT ACKNOWLEDGED PAST GENERATIONS OF PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO HAD LED THE WAY BRINGING PORTRAITURE TO A HIGH ART.

THIS SITE WAS CREATED TO DISPLAY A SMALL AMOUNT OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, PHOTOS AND BASIC INFO RELATING TO THE "BIG SIX", HOPEFULLY TO INFORM AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO RESEARCH AND PUBLISH INFORMATION RELATING TO THIS AND OTHER PERIODS OF FINE COMMERICAL PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY.

THE BIG SIX - WHO WERE THEY ?

ACCORDING TO ABEL'S BOOK, THEY WERE:

J.C. STRAUSS OF ST. LOUIS (1857-1924)

S.L. STEIN OF MILWAUKEE (1854-1922)

M.J. STEFFENS OF CHICAGO (1854-1928)

F.S. CLARK OF DETROIT (1865-1937)

P. MACDONALD OF NEW YORK CITY (1867-1942)

F. A. RINEHART OF OMAHA (1862-1928)