Title
Adrian Van Sinderen Lambert (1872-1952), Associate Professor of SurgeryArtist
Ulmann, Doris (American, 1882-1934)Date
1919Process
PlatinumImage Size
20.5 x 15.6 cmSheet Size
36 x 28.5 cm (mount)
When photographic Modernism took hold in the 1920s, its sharp, unadorned style forcefully rejected the soft-focus, painterly look of Pictorialism. The new movement dismissed its predecessor as outdated and misguided, pushing Pictorialism to the margins of sentimental poor taste.
Doris Ulmann felt the loss of an imagined simpler time and tried to preserve it with her camera. In addition to her subject matter, she preserved time honored print processes that lent a tactile depth and muted subtlety to her clear, modernist compositions resulting in a singular pictorial voice that both honored the past and embraced the future. Her portraits capture lives of dignity and resilience at a time of hardship. These are not nostalgic curiosities but plainspoken encounters with Depression-era Americans whom Ulmann approached with openness and respect, elevating overlooked lives through quiet strength and the enduring beauty of platinum and photogravure.
Pencil signature "Doris Ulmann" to lower right and red monogram in right corner of photo, printed by the artist, having original mat, and Doris U. Jaeger.
Reproduced / Exhibited
Published: Jaeger – The Faculty of the College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University in the City of New York, Twenty-four Portraits, pages unnumbered, Plate 10; Jacobs – The Life and Photography of Doris Ulmann, p. 35, fig. 14.
References
Jacobs, P. W. (2001). The life and photography of doris ulmann. University Press of Kentucky. July 12, 2024, p. 84
Ulmann, Doris, John Jacob Niles, and Jonathan Williams. 1976 1971. The Appalachian Photographs. Highlands, N.C: Jargon Society.
Coles, Robert and Aperture, Inc. 1974. The Darkness and the Light. Millerton, N.Y: Aperture.
Georgia Museum of Art. 2018. Vernacular Modernism : The Photography of Doris Ulmann. Athens, Georgia: Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia.
J. Paul Getty Museum. 1996. Doris Ulmann : Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum. Malibu, California: J. Paul Getty Museum.
Lovejoy, Barbara. “The Oil Pigment Photography of Doris Ulmann.” University of Kentucky, Publisher Not Identified, 1993.
Gillespie, Sarah Kate. Vernacular Modernism: The Photography of Doris Ulmann. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 2018.
