Through an Uncommon Lens: The Life and Photography of F. Holland Day

6. “Behold, It Is I!”

• 111 • six “Behold, It Is I” ∂¥ A few months prior to Day’s stunning debut at the 1895 London Salon, Rudolf Eickemeyer, the second American to be elected to the Linked Ring, wrote to Alfred Stieglitz that Day had seemingly “hewn his way through a virgin forest .”1 Without engaging in competition or politics, unable to print from his negatives , disdainful of technical training, instead advocating the study of past artistic masters, Day had appeared on the photographic scene fully conceived, as if from nowhere.2 To someone as single-minded and ambitious as Stieglitz, Day’s emergence must have been disconcerting. The New Yorker had labored for more than a decade as arbiter, editor, and advocate, cajoling, denigrating, and insisting that photography should be considered an art. Yet with a handful of photographs at one exhibition, Day was “perceived a genius,”as early biographer Estelle Jussim commented:“It was as if Day had suddenly crystallized the‘art’ of art photography and had synthesized all the ambitions of the would-be pictorialists into one miraculous vision.”3 Distinctive for his theatrical costuming, complex symbolism, near-mystical allegories , and skillful manipulation of light, shade, and skin tone, Day was praised forbeing“intentionallyandpassionatelydecorative.”“Mr.F.H.Day’sphotographic 112 • chapter six art is an art full of delicacy, refinement, and subtlety,” wrote Sadakichi Hartmann in 1900,“an art full of deep thought and charm, full of dreamy fascinations.”4 At the time Hartmann wrote these words, Day had only recently closed his publishing company, intending to devote all his energy to photography, but he already had compiled an enviable portfolio. He had participated regularly in London’s Linked Ring Salon since 1895, mounted two large-scale one-person shows at the Camera Clubs of New York and Boston, garnered international notice at exhibitions in Berlin and Vienna (the latter solicited by Stieglitz himself), and taken part in the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston displays in 1897 and 1899. In addition , he had held several small exhibitions at his own Boston studio, published a half-dozen articles on photography, and had his work featured in photographic journals and popular magazines. He had lectured at various venues including the Harvard Camera Club, the Boston Camera Club, and the Massachusetts Normal Art School, and served on the organizing committee of the SACB’s 1899 exhibit and on the jury of the second Philadelphia Photographic Salon the same year. Day’s growing influence among American Pictorialists was undeniable, and he seemed poised to challenge Stieglitz’s position at the forefront of American photography. Given the NewYorker’s iron-fisted leadership style, a confrontation was almost inevitable. The eventual falling-out came over two issues: the founding of an American association of pictorial photographers, and Day’s mounting of the“New School of American Photography” in London and Paris. Although acknowledging to Stieglitz that he had approached photography “working quite by myself—and incidentally for myself,” just as he had done in his collecting, publishing, and literary pursuits, and“not to the schemes or plans laid down by others,”Day agreed that it was“a great pity”thatAmerican photographers were unable to assemble annually“for the encouragement of the art.”5 He offered to do whatever he could to advance the movement, and as his own stature increased, he tirelessly promoted the careers of such notables as Frederick Evans, Gertrude Käsebier,Clarence White,Alvin Langdon Coburn,and Edward Steichen.He personally hung Boston shows for Evans at the BostonArchitectural Club in 1897 and forWhite at the Boston Camera Club in 1899,empathized with and advised Käsebier through numerous travails, and was a generous mentor and teacher to both Coburn and Steichen at the start of their respective careers. More locally, Day also attracted as protégés a number of lesser-known but talented Boston-area women photographers, including Elise Pumpelly Cabot, Margaret Russell, Mary Devens, and Sarah Choate Sears.6 In encouraging their work, he acknowledged individual “behold, it is i” • 113 expression, applauded technical experimentation, and even prodded Stieglitz for recognition on their behalf.7 All were represented in Day’s New School of American Photography exhibition in London and Paris, where Devens, Cabot, and Russell attended a celebratory feast with Day at Steichen’s apartment.8 The women were mutually supportive as well. They critiqued one another’s work, met with Day in his studio, and...