Mount Washington, Massachusetts, July 22, 1890

1890

Robert Stuart Redfield

(American, 1849–1923)

Culture

America

Medium

platinum print

Measurements

Image: 19.3 x 24.1 cm (7 5/8 x 9 1/2 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund 1994.279

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Description

At the turn of the 20th century, Redfield was a leading proponent of staging simple genre scenes outdoors, instead of being limited to a studio setting. Here, the Philadelphia-born photographer carefully positioned three children in the foreground of this picturesque landscape dominated by a split-rail and stone fence. The print features his interests in clarity and fidelity and atmospheric effects. In this rural scene, he used the warm, delicate tonal range of a platinum print to render subtle variations and nuances of light. For two decades around 1900, Redfield was a leading advocate of photography as fine art and was one of the founders of the Photo-Secession. He sought to convince an audience accustomed to viewing photographs as simple recorded fact that they were beautiful images able to convey emotion.