A great American photographer.
I’m certainly no fan of filmy, soft focus, photography on the whole, but that’s not to say I don’t like it when it’s well done.
Gertrude Käsebier (1852 – 1934) was an American photographer who did most of her best work around the beginning of the twentieth century. Her work is distinguished by soft light and great warmth and charm.
Portrait Miss N. 1903
Portrait by window light. Date unknown
It’s unclear whether the general fuzziness of her work is the result of poor technique, deliberate manipulation or simply caused by the technical limitations of the time. No matter, the results work.
I was reminded of Käsebier’s work when fellow photographer Leigh Sheldon sent me a recent picture very much in the Käsebier style:
Your light. 2008.
How Leigh got that effect with the birds I do not know, but I would rather it remained a secret. It works better that way.
While the standard writing on Käsebier is that she was a member of the Photo Secession movement headed by Stieglitz, stylistically she was very much her own person.
A timely reminder that not all that is sharp is good, and that not all that is blurred is bad. And it can still be done well today plus, I can assure you, Sheldon’s technique lacks for nothing.
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