Gertrude Käsebier

American portrait photographer Gertrude Käsebier (née Stanton) (1852 - 1934) was a part of the PhotoSecession movement along with Edward Steichen, Alvin Langdon Coburn and Clarence Hudson White and a founder of the Pictorial Photographers of America.

While studying painting in her late thirties, she shifted her interests to photography. With minimum professional training, she opened a studio in 1897, and used the proceeds to support her ill husband. She was a founding member of the Photo-Secession group along with Alfred Stieglitz, who printed several of her photographs in the first issue of his magazine "Camera Work".

Using relaxed poses in natural light, emphasizing the play of light and dark, Kasebier let her subjects fill most of the frame. She was also noted for her printing process and ability to produce images with a painterly quality. She was the first woman to be in the Linked Ring and the founding member of the Pictorial Photographers of America. Motherhood is a central theme for her work.

References

*International Photography Hall of Fame & Museum. [http://www.iphf.org/inductees/gkasebier.html Gertrude Käsebier]