Object number1987.53.28
John Ashbery, New York City
Date1969
Artist
Rosalie Thorne McKenna
(American, 1918-2003)
CultureAmerican
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 13 5/8 x 7 7/8 in. (34.6 x 20 cm)
Matted: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 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 unidentified hand, upper center in ink: JOHN ASHBERY[sic]; lower right corner: 87.53.28
MarkingsOn verso, stamped center: Photo By: / ROLLIE MCKENNA / ONE HANCOX STREET / STONINGTON, CONN. / AREA CODE 203 533-0110 / Not To Be Reproduced / Without Permission / Please Credit With Photo
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.”
DescriptionMounted to board. Three quarter view portrait of standing man in suit with left knee bent and left hand resting on knee while looking at photographer with grid of clear glass light globes in background above headTerms
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