- Through a Woman's Eye : The Early 20th Century Photography of Alabama's Edith Morgan (2015, Hardcover) ebook TXT, DJV, PDF
9781588382634 English 158838263X The photographs created by Edith Morgan in Camden and compiled by here in albums for her friends depict a multifaceted view of her hometown and time. Overall, her photographs exemplify vernacular photography by a talented amateur photographer. Her work runs the gamut of photographic practice in the early twentieth century. It includes portraits, genre works, landscapes, still life, and documentary studies. To our knowledge, Morgan did, not pursue photography professionally. Instead, she created photographs, trimmed individual prints, and arranged them in the albums TO please herself and her friends. At the turn of the twentieth century, many middle-class women acquired cameras and began to photograph their friends and families. By photographing within their families and social circles, they consequently had noninvasive relationships with their subjects. She may have also had personal relationships with many of her African American; subjects; they may have worked as servants or laborers for the Morgan, family, or attended her Sunday School or reading classes. Overall, many of Morgan's photographs, especially her portraits, are reminiscent of the work of the leading women photographers of her time, as well as amateur and professional photographers in Alabama during the early twentieth century. Conversely, many of her photographs, especially her images of African! Americans in Wilcox County, are prescient of the documentary photography of the Farm Security Administration photographers during the Great Depression. Morgan additionally created stereotypical imagery of African Americans, but with a decidedly empathetic eye. Through a Woman's Eye explores both the reminiscent and prescient aspects of her work. Book jacket., Through a Woman's Eye presents an evocative collection of a hundred black and white photographs made by Edith Morgan of Camden, a small town in Wilcox County, Alabama, just after the turn of the twentieth century. Morgan was educated locally before attending the School of the Chicago Art Institute. Subsequently she returned to Camden where she spent the remainder of her life teaching art. She also taught illiterate blacks and whites to read. Thirty years ago, Marian Furman, also of Camden and herself a professional photographer, discovered an album made by Morgan of photographs of her friends, students, and local African Americans. The latter, although somewhat stereotypical of photographs of blacks at the time, are sympathetic; they reveal the humanity of Morgan's subjects. This volume collects Morgan's photographs, along with essays that put them in the context of time and place. Professor Hardy Jackson's essay presents a personal memory. Furman describes socioeconomic and political conditions in Wilcox County and offers biographical information on the Morgan family. Dr. Matthew Mason of Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library presents additional biographical information and offers a critical assessment of Morgan's photographs, comparing her work to that of contemporary photographers, especially her female peers.
9781588382634 English 158838263X The photographs created by Edith Morgan in Camden and compiled by here in albums for her friends depict a multifaceted view of her hometown and time. Overall, her photographs exemplify vernacular photography by a talented amateur photographer. Her work runs the gamut of photographic practice in the early twentieth century. It includes portraits, genre works, landscapes, still life, and documentary studies. To our knowledge, Morgan did, not pursue photography professionally. Instead, she created photographs, trimmed individual prints, and arranged them in the albums TO please herself and her friends. At the turn of the twentieth century, many middle-class women acquired cameras and began to photograph their friends and families. By photographing within their families and social circles, they consequently had noninvasive relationships with their subjects. She may have also had personal relationships with many of her African American; subjects; they may have worked as servants or laborers for the Morgan, family, or attended her Sunday School or reading classes. Overall, many of Morgan's photographs, especially her portraits, are reminiscent of the work of the leading women photographers of her time, as well as amateur and professional photographers in Alabama during the early twentieth century. Conversely, many of her photographs, especially her images of African! Americans in Wilcox County, are prescient of the documentary photography of the Farm Security Administration photographers during the Great Depression. Morgan additionally created stereotypical imagery of African Americans, but with a decidedly empathetic eye. Through a Woman's Eye explores both the reminiscent and prescient aspects of her work. Book jacket., Through a Woman's Eye presents an evocative collection of a hundred black and white photographs made by Edith Morgan of Camden, a small town in Wilcox County, Alabama, just after the turn of the twentieth century. Morgan was educated locally before attending the School of the Chicago Art Institute. Subsequently she returned to Camden where she spent the remainder of her life teaching art. She also taught illiterate blacks and whites to read. Thirty years ago, Marian Furman, also of Camden and herself a professional photographer, discovered an album made by Morgan of photographs of her friends, students, and local African Americans. The latter, although somewhat stereotypical of photographs of blacks at the time, are sympathetic; they reveal the humanity of Morgan's subjects. This volume collects Morgan's photographs, along with essays that put them in the context of time and place. Professor Hardy Jackson's essay presents a personal memory. Furman describes socioeconomic and political conditions in Wilcox County and offers biographical information on the Morgan family. Dr. Matthew Mason of Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library presents additional biographical information and offers a critical assessment of Morgan's photographs, comparing her work to that of contemporary photographers, especially her female peers.