Alice Boughton (1866 – 1943) was an early 20th-century American photographer who was also active in Feminist and Socialist causes using photography as a form of personal expression. Boughton was a prominent member of the New Woman movement that emerged in the late 19th century. New Woman referred to independent women seeking changes to the status-quo that has been set by the patriarchy. They also sought independence via physical changes to their clothing and activities, such as playing sports previously considered inappropriate for women.
Boughton studied at the Pratt School of Art and Design in the 1880s, and opened her own portrait studio on East 23rd Street in New York in 1890. During her time, she became one of the most distinguished portrait photographers in New York.
Her platinum print on tissue entitled “Summer” has a soft and grainy texture with a sense of thick and hot air that we can almost feel. “Dawn” is a photogravure, which was published in the 1909 issue of Camera Work, Alfred Stieglitz's influential quarterly journal dedicated to establishing photography as a fine art. Boughton's photogravure images were highly regarded for their painterly qualities and artistic ambition. (From Pratt Institute’s website)
“Dawn” is a daring image of a female nude with her back to us, standing in a shallow pool of water as she faces a larger body of water. She holds a ball as if to throw it, but there is no one visible in the landscape to catch it.
Summer
Author / Creator
Boughton, Alice, 1865-1943, American [photographer]
Platinum print on tissue
ca.1907-1910
HOLLIS number: olvwork125837
Photographs from Camera Work no. 26 April 1909
Dawn
1909 HOLLIS Number : olvwork125836
A woman's body is a sacred temple. A work of art, and a life-giving vessel. And once she becomes a mother, her body serves as a medicine cabinet for her infant. From her milk she can nourish and heal her own child from a variety of ailments. 🌸✨ {female candle body by @mykeraki.gr}