On the day following the historic Breixt vote in the United Kingdom, it seems that the world is ready to knock down icons of stability and throw caution to the wind. The regime of the EU evolved to maintain world economic order after the battles of World War II. So it seems quite appropriate that the greatest icon of that war fell, or at least was corrected, this week as well.

The United States Marine Corps acknowledged this week, seventy-one years after the event, that it had misidentified one of the Marines in Joe Rosenthal’s ironic flag raising image from Iwo Jima. The previously unknown Pfc. Harold Schultz of Detroit is the sixth man in the picture, service leaders confirmed.

This speaks to two things. First, is the tenuous state of information from that time compared to ours. And second, is the power of photography to capture, freeze the moment, and ultimately play witness to the facts.

Figure 1 – I. W. Taber portrait of Princess Kaiulani, taken in San Francisco c 1897. In the Hawaii State Archives and in the public domain in the United States because of its age.

Our discussion yesterday about Loïe Fuller and the wonderful performance portrait of her by I. W. Taber begs the obvious question of exactly who Taber was? Isaiah West Taber (1830 – 1912) was an American photographer of the nineteenth century, who practiced in daguerreotypes. ambrotypes, and albumen prints. He was also a dentist and sketch artist and is today most known for his stereoscopic views of the American West. Taber was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. From 1845-1849 he was a whaler.  He briefly settled as a photographer in California in 1850, but opened his first studio in Syracuse, NY in 1854. In 1864 he returned to San Francisco, working first in the studio of Bradley and Rulofson. He opened his own studio in 1871.

Significantly, in 1880 Taber spent six weeks in Hawaii where he photographed Hawaiian King Kalākaua, on commission. In the following year the King visited Taber’s studio in San Francisco. Taber is also famous for street scenes of San Francisco and portraits of the California Dignitaries of the day. Unfortunately, the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the subsequent fire destroyed his gallery including his collection of negatives and this ended his photographic career.

The quality of Taber’s work is arguably best revealed in two stunning portraits of Hawaiian Princess Kaiulani that were taken during a 1997 visit to San Francisco and the United States in hopes of restoring the Hawaiian Monarchy after its overthrow in 1892. One of these portraits is shown in Figure 1. The dress and hat are truly gorgeous. The book is meant, as it so often does in Western portrait art, to convey erudition. But I think the most captivating aspect of the portrait is the expression at once regal and demur. Kaiulani was only 22 at the time of the portrait. Tragically, she died two years later on March 6, 1899 at the age of 23 of inflammatory rheumatism. Poignantly, her father also said that he thought that since Hawaii was gone, it was fitting for Kaʻiulani to go as well.

Figure 1 – Painting of Loie Fuller by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. From the Wikipedia and in the public domain in the United States because of its age.

Today I thought that we would get out of the woods and return to the Belle Époque. For some reason the other day the great dancer of that period, Loïe Fuller (1862-1928), came to my mind, and I started searching for photographs and videos of her. Loïe Fuller was a visionary, and in many regards like Evelyn Nesbit, like Sarah Bernhardt, like Anna Pavlova, and like Isadora Duncan she pioneered what performance stars do today – they ride the wave of a shrinking world and the developing technologies that promoted worldwide connectivity.

She was born Marie Louise Fuller outside of Chicago in Fullersburg, Illinois. She began her theatrical career as a professional child actress and later as a “skirt dancer” in burlesque. She was essentially self-taught and developed her own characteristic techniques. Her choreography combined colorful silk costumes illuminated by multi-colored lighting, again by her own design. One of her most famous works was the “Serpentine Dance” and there is a miraculous hand-colored film clip made in 1896 by the Lumiere Brothers of it being perfomed. Apparently, the dancer in this is not Fuller herself but  flame dancer Papinta.

While Fuller became famous in America, she felt underappreciated and after a warm reception in Paris during a European tour persuaded, she was persuaded to remain in France, becoming a regular performer at the Folies Bergère at the Moulin Rouge with works such as her “Fire Dance.” Indeed, one of the reasons that we remember her today is because of paintings and posters of her performances by such artists as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). Figure 1 is a painting of her by Toulouse-Lautrec. It is also significant to note that many of Fullers costumes required elaborate technical designs, which she invented and patented.

Not surprisingly, this colorful figure and her flowing costumes and dramatic lighting attracted the great photographers of her day, Searching among them is truly a visual delight. I have chosen here as Figure 2 a portrait of her dancing by Isaiah West Taber (1830 – 1912) I chose this both because of the wonderful sensitivity and expressively captured motion of the image but also because it is so similar to Toluose-Lautrec’s painting.

Figure 2 – Loie Fuller by I. W. Taber. In the public domain in the United States because of its age.

Figure 1 – Portrait of Miss Anna Holch holding Buzzer the Cat, 1913, by Arnold Genthe and in the US LOC. In the public domain in the United States because of its age.

A while back I blogged about “The World’s First Super Model” Evelyn Nesbit. Quite contemporary with Miss Nesbit was a cat named “Buzzer” who belonged to the great early twentieth century photographer Arnold Genthe (1869-1942).- if cat’s ever truly belong to a person instead of the other way around. I will remind you that “Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.”

Genthe photographed many beautiful woman: friends, actresses, and socialites and Buzzer often appeared as an “extra” in these photographs – or perhaps they were actually portraits of Buzzer, with the women being extras. It is an important point of portraiture that hands can appear awkward and facial expressions stiff. But if you place something in the person’s hands you give them a natural look. And what better “prop” for the hands than a cat, who was also guaranteed to melt the severest countenance. Genthe describes Buzzer

“Buzzer IV, whom I had with me for eighteen years, was a large, short-haired yellow cat — half Chinese, half Persian — looking more like a small tiger. He was very haughty, but never vicious, and he seldom condescended to make friends with strangers.”

And in fact, much like movie and stage animal stars of  today there were actually four Buzzers over the course of Arnold Genthe’s career. There is a wonderful collection of portraits of Buzzer and his ladies in the Library of Congress. I include as Figure 1 above one example, a charming 1913 portrait with Miss Anna Holch.

” How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven.”
– Robert A. Heinlein

Figure 1 – The British Grand Fleet sails out to meet the German navy, May 30, 1916. In the public domain in the Unites Stated because of its age.

In the United States today is Memorial Day and we remember those who gave their lives for our freedoms. Memorial Day began as Decoration Day in 1868 to remember those who died in the American Civil War. But, of course and very sadly, there have been so many wars since and continuing.

The magic of photography is that it can take us back. So today I offer the image of Figure 1, which was taken one century ago today and shows the British fleet, “The Grand Fleet,” sailing out of Scarpa Flow, under the command of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, to engage the Germans in what was to become known as the Battle of Jutland over the next two days. It was a critical moment in what was then the world’s most terrible war, and for the British, the rulers of the seas, everything stood in the balance. History has deemed the engagement a draw – but significantly the Germans never again challenged British supremacy at sea. So among those that we honor and remember today are the 8,645 souls who lost their lives that day.

Significantly, 1916 was a politically fulminating year. Just a month before British troops had occupied Dublin to put down the Easter rebellion. It was the start of a wave that would finally undo the major monarchies of Europe and the peace forged at the  Congress of Vienna. Among these monarchies would fall the Ottomans, which would lead in turn to what David Fromkin has called the “peace to end all peace” in the Middle East. That is a war we still fight today.

It is strange how all but the most dedicated student of history forgets the details. But May 30, 1916 was very real to those who lived through that day on the North Sea. We can imagine both their confidence and fear. We remember them and all the fallen of all the wars

“Dona nobis pacem.“

Figure 1 – Theodore Roosevelt campaigning from the US LOC and in the public domain because of its age.

Following on my blog of this past Friday, I’d like to discuss the first president who used the media of photography and video. Just as Obama was the first presidential candidate to fully exploit the revolution of the internet, it was Theodore Roosevelt who first utilized photography and motion pictures to effect. McKinley was the first president to appear in a movie sequence, but it was Roosevelt who exploited its potential. Figure 1 shows the young presidential candidate campaigning.

But I found something that I believe is truly remarkable. In October of I910 the Wright Brothers held an airshow or air meet in St Louis, MO. TR, who at the time was no longer president, was invited by aviator Arch Hoxsey to join him on a flight in a biplane. This is immortalized in the image of Figure 2. But more remarkably, the event was filmed. It was the first time that a United States president flew. The Colonel at first refuses the invitation, but then he realizes the value of the effect and agrees. And true to form his assessment of the event was “Bully!”

Figure 1 – TR on a biplane with Arche Hoxsey, the first US President to fly. From the US LOC and in the public domain because of its age.

Figure 1 – The first Lincoln Douglas debate in Ottawa, IL, October 13,1858. From www.lib.niu.edu and in the public domain because of its age.

A while back I blogged about the first presidential campaign button.  In the US right now, we are election-obsessed, and I started wondering about early photographs of presidential campaigns. It is a bit of a quagmire. This is especially so because until fairly recently not all candidates actually campaigned for themselves or at least didn’t venture beyond their own front porches..

My initial research on the subject did unearth some pretty remarkable images. The first of these is the image of Figure 1, which shows the first of the Lincoln-Douglass debates in Ottawa, Illinois. These debates took place during the senatorial race of 1858 and the image was taken on October 13, 1858.

As for the question of the earliest photographs of an American presidential campaign, so far, the earliest that I can find appear to come from the campaigns of 1896. I am hopeful that some reader will point me towards earlier images. The Democratic candidate [and I want to emphasize for my Republican friends that it is the Democratic Party not the Democrat Party!] the “Great Commoner,” William Jennings Bryan took to the rails on an intense “whistle stop” tour of the United States. Figure 2 shows him in Wellsville, Ohio with his train behind him. McKinley chose to stay home or at least to stay in the home, ”The Campaign House” that he and his wife Ida had rented in Canton, OH for the occasion.  The crowds visiting the Republican candidate became so large that a special speakers’ platform had to be erected on the front lawn as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 2 _ William Jennings Bryan campaigning in 1896 in Wellsville, OH. From the Wikimedia Commons and in the public domain because of its age.

The burning issue of the day was the gold vs.gold plus silver standard for United States currency. Bryan believed that bimetallism  a combined gold and silver standard would bring prosperity to the nation and in his “Cross of Gold Speech” he famously intoned”

“If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”

And nobody argued about the size of their hands.

Figure – McKinley campaigning in 1896 from the porch of his “Campaign House.” From the US LOC and in the public domain because of its age.