Golden October
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.
Artwork Details
- Title: Golden October
- Artist: George Seeley (American, 1880–1955)
- Date: 1909
- Medium: Gum bichromate over gelatin silver or platinum print
- Dimensions: 44.0 x 53.8 cm. (17 5/16 x 21 3/16 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gift of Marion D. Byron and Purchase, Warner Communications Inc. Purchase Fund, 1981
- Object Number: 1981.1160
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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