Golden October
George Seeley American
Not on view
As hand-held cameras became popular among amateurs, photographers with artistic ambitions turned to techniques that demanded creativity and skillful manipulation. Alfred Stieglitz invited Seeley to join the Photo-Secession artistic confraternity and included Seeley’s work in exhibitions of Pictorialist photography. Despite the favorable attention his work received, Seeley—a Massachusetts public-school art teacher—made photographs for the pleasure of craftsmanship rather than for public acclaim or financial profit, writing to a friend that he found “an honest effort is always a satisfaction.” Golden October casts his youngest sister and favorite model, Laura, in an allegorical light. His dramatic handling transforms a sibling, costumed in a cloak made by their mother, into an autumnal icon.
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