Ansco published a magazine entitled
Portrait from 1909 to 1921
to promote its photographic products, particularly the Cyco line of
photo printing paper. Ansco's magazine targeted advanced amateurs and
professional studio portraitists. Articles dealt with aesthetic and
technical topics of interest to those groups, as well as effective
marketing strategies. The publication's cover photo often featured a
prominent portrait photographer, and an article was devoted to the
photographer's work along with a brief biography. Articles on aesthetics
and technique were frequently the work of prominent critic, Sadakichi
Hartmann. Many issues of
Portrait are available on line at the Internet Archive site, and a good
overview of the publication has been prepared by Gary D. Saretzky.
The cover of the July,1912 issue of
Portrait featured
Gertrude Kasebier, one of the original founders of the Photo-Secession
movement along with Alfred Stieglitz. Examples of Kasebier's work had
appeared in the first issue of Camera Work in 1903, and Stieglitz again
paid tribute to her extraordinary talent in the April,1905 issue. The
two parted company around the time this article appeared in Ansco's
magazine. Stieglitz accused Kasebier of putting commercial
considerations above the aesthetic ideals of the Photo Secession, and
Kasebier left the organization.
The 1912 Ansco article
had a fawning tone and the portrait that was included as an example of
her work had a rather bland character which seems to give some weight to
Stieglitz's assertions. Taking a broader view of Kasebier's long and
productive career, however, makes Stieglitz's judgment seem
short-sighted and uncharitable. Still, it is interesting to compare
some of her commercial portraiture with the kind of pictures that first
brought her to the pages of
Camera Work.
This portrait of Evelyn Nesbit by Kasebier was made about 1900 and published as a photogravure in the first issue of Camera Work in 1903.
