[Nurse in Distress]

ca. 1935

Not on view

Neither a film still from an Alfred Hitchcock movie nor a pastiche of such things by Cindy Sherman, this photograph was made, the artist later recalled, as part of an advertising project for Kotex. Mortally frightened by something “off screen,” this nurse—shown close up and dramatically lit—surely would have grabbed the attention of anyone flipping the pages of a 1930s magazine. Whether or not it was ever used in an advertisement is unknown, but in an age now accustomed to staged photography and sensitized to the stereotypical roles in which women have so often been cast, Coster’s photograph is compelling for reasons he could not have predicted.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: [Nurse in Distress]
Artist: Gordon H. Coster (American, Baltimore, Maryland 1906–1988)
Date: ca. 1935
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Gift of Keith de Lellis, 2012
Object Number: 2012.308.3
Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Gordon Coster
Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

By Gordon H. Coster

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From the same time and place

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[Mental Institution Patient], Gordon H. Coster American, Gelatin silver print — [Mental Institution Patient]
Gordon H. Coster
1945–50

[State Street at Madison, Looking South, Xmas Shoppers], Gordon H. Coster American, Gelatin silver print — [State Street at Madison, Looking South, Xmas Shoppers]
Gordon H. Coster
ca. 1945

Construction of Chevrolet Sign at Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street, Chicago, Gordon H. Coster American, Gelatin silver print — Construction of Chevrolet Sign at Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street, Chicago
Gordon H. Coster
1932–34

Chicago, Impression at Night, Gordon H. Coster American, Gelatin silver print — Chicago, Impression at Night
Gordon H. Coster
1932

Impressions of Chicago - The Lights of Grant Park, Gordon H. Coster American, Gelatin silver print — Impressions of Chicago - The Lights of Grant Park
Gordon H. Coster
1932

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