White, Clarence H.

White, Clarence H.

▪ American photographer
in full  Clarence Hudson White 
born April 8, 1871, West Carlisle, Ohio, U.S.
died July 8, 1925, Mexico City, Mex.

      American photographer known for subtle portraits of women and children and also as an influential teacher of photography.

 White had from his early years an appetite for artistic and intellectual pursuits. After finishing high school in Newark, Ohio, he took a job as an accountant in his father's grocery business and married in 1893. He taught himself the art of photography and photographed constantly despite his limited free time and finances; he costumed and posed family members and friends in the early dawn or evening hours, in their homes and in the open and produced elegantly posed and subtly lit images. White's work came to public attention in 1898 at the First Philadelphia Photographic Salon; asked to be a judge the following year, White met important figures in American art photography, among them F. Holland Day, Gertrude Käsebier (Käsebier, Gertrude), Edward Steichen (Steichen, Edward), and Alfred Stieglitz (Stieglitz, Alfred).

      In 1902 White helped found Photo-Secession, a group of photographers that promoted Pictorialism, a fine-arts approach to photography. After a few years of making a living as a traveling portraitist, White moved with his family in 1906 to New York City. A year later he was hired to teach the first photography course to be given at Columbia University, a circumstance that enabled him to renounce commercial work. In 1910 he and several friends—including Day, Käsebier, and the painter Max Weber (Weber, Max)—began a summer school, held first on Seguin Island in Maine and later in East Canaan, Conn. Encouraged by his friends, White in 1914 opened the Clarence H. White School of Photography in New York City. He also taught at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. His influence on the next generation of photographers was notable; many among his students—who included Laura Gilpin (Gilpin, Laura), Margaret Bourke-White (Bourke-White, Margaret), Dorothea Lange (Lange, Dorothea), Paul Outerbridge, Ralph Steiner, and Doris Ulmann (Ulmann, Doris)—went on to become successful photographers.

      Although White had become a socialist early in his career, he did not consider the camera a tool for social change but regarded the medium as a means of expressing beauty. Until the end of his life, he continued to promote artistic photography through teaching, exhibitions, and associations with advertising art directors. The genteel subject matter and subtle lighting effects visible in his work came to epitomize the Pictorialist approach to photography at the turn of the century.

Additional Reading
Marianne Fulton (ed.), Pictorialism into Modernism: The Clarence H. White School of Photography, exhibition catalog (1996).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Clarence Hudson White — Clarence Hudson White, photographed by Fred Holland Day Clarence Hudson White (April 8, 1871 – July 7, 1925) was an American photographer and a founding member of the Photo Secession movement. During his lifetime he was widely recognized as a… …   Wikipedia

  • Clarence Cameron White — (August 10, 1880 – June 30, 1960) was an African American neoromantic composer and concert violinist. Dramatic works by the composer were his best known, such as the incidental music for the play Tambour and the opera Ouanga. During the first… …   Wikipedia

  • Clarence Hudson White — Clarence H. White Retrato hecho por Doris Ulmann (c. 1920) Nombre de nacimiento Clarence Hudson White …   Wikipedia Español

  • Clarence H. White — Clarence Hudson White Clarence Hudson White (* 8. April 1871 in West Carlisle, Ohio; 7. Juli 1925) war ein US amerikanischer Fotograf und Gründungsmitglied der Photo Secession. Leben Sein Vater war Verkäufer in einem Großhandelsunternehmen und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Clarence White — For other people named Clarence White, see Clarence White (disambiguation). Clarence White Birth name Clarence Joseph LeBlanc Born June 7, 1944 Lewiston, Maine, U.S.A. Died July 15, 1973(1973 07 15) (aged 29) …   Wikipedia

  • Clarence Darrow — Clarence Seward Darrow ca. 1922 Born April 18, 1857(1857 04 18) Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio Died …   Wikipedia

  • Clarence Hudson White — Clarence Hudson White, portraitiert durch Doris Ulmann (1920) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Clarence Mackay — Born April 17, 1874 Died November 12, 1938 Nationality Americ …   Wikipedia

  • Clarence Lightner — Clarence E. Lightner 30th Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina In office October 1973 – October 1975 Preceded by Thomas W. Bradshaw …   Wikipedia

  • Clarence River Light — Clarence River Lighthose …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”