Object number1987.53.39
T. S. Eliot, London
Date1950
Artist
Rosalie Thorne McKenna
(American, 1918-2003)
CultureAmerican
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 1/4 x 7 11/16 in. (23.5 x 19.5 cm)
Mount: 13 1/4 x 11 in. (33.7 x 27.9 cm)
Matted: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)
Mount: 13 1/4 x 11 in. (33.7 x 27.9 cm)
Matted: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of the artist
On View
Not on viewPeriod20th c
Classification(s)
InscribedOn verso, by artist, center in pencil: T.S.E-8; on verso, by artist, lower left in pencil: T.S. Eliot / London 1950; on verso, by unidentified hand, lower right corner in pencil: 87.53.39
MarkingsOn verso, partially visible stamp upper right: COPYRIGHTED PHOTO BY / ROLLIE McKENNA / ONE HAN... / STONIN... / TEL. (2 / © RO...A / MUST APPEAR WITH PHOTO; on verso, stamped upper center [crossed out]: PHOTO BY: / ROLLIE MCKENNA / 438 EAST 88 STREET / NEW YORK 28, N. Y. / TEL. ENRIGHT 9-3889 / Not To Be Reproduced / Without Permission. / Please Credit With Photo; on verso, stamped center: ASMP MEMBER / AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHERS; on verso, stamped left center: Photo By: / ROLLIE MCKENNA / ONE HANCOX STREET / STONINGTON, CONN. / AREA CODE 203 533-0110/2126 / Not To Be Reproduced / Without Permission / Please Credit With Photo; © Rollie Mc Kenna; on verso, stamped center [crossed out]: PHOTO BY: / ROLLIE MCKENNA / 438 EAST 88 STREET / NEW YORK 28, N. Y. / TEL. ENRIGHT 9-3889 / Not To Be Reproduced / Without Permission. / Please Credit With Photo; on verso, stamped lower right: Photo By: / ROLLIE MCKENNA / ONE HANCOX STREET / STONINGTON, CONN. / AREA CODE 203 533-0110 / Not To Be Reproduced / Without Permission / Please Credit With Photo
On printed label, on verso right center: © Rollie McKenna / 1 Hancox Street / Stonington, CT 06378 / (203) 535-0110/2126
BibliographyJohn Malcolm Brinnin and Bill Read, The Modern Poets, An American-British Anthology (McGraw-Hill, 1963), 78.
“Photographer Rollie McKenna shoots the greats,” The Day, New London, CT (May 10 1976), 22.
“Free-Wheeling Portraiture,” Popular Photography (November 1960 edition), page unknown.
ProvenanceGift of the artistVassar Exhibitions
Label TextIn 1950, McKenna met American poet John Malcolm Brinnin. He introduced the young photographer to many modernist poets, and their friendship spanned most of McKenna’s life. When they met, Brinnin served as director of the YM-YWHA Poetry Center, New York (today part of 92NY), where he organized McKenna’s first solo exhibition in 1951, featuring portraits of writers. Portrait photography would soon become McKenna’s bread and butter, introducing her to the literary world and establishing her decades-long career as a freelance photographer. She became known for portraits that defied convention and sought to capture real, human qualities. She scrapped the studio altogether and instead photographed people where they were most comfortable. Her portraits of writers picture them at their desks, often at home and sometimes mid-conversation, having a cigarette, or even sitting casually on the floor. Unlike traditional studio portraits, which to McKenna looked stiff, contrived, and lifeless, her pictures achieved an expressive candidness. “My objection to posed studio photographs,” she said, “is that they tend to have the stamp of the studio or the photographer, and not necessarily of the person.”
DescriptionPortrait of man with dark glasses sitting and holding a book wearing a plaid suit with handkerchief, striped shirt and dark tieTerms
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Rosalie Thorne McKenna
1958
Culture: American
