These three photographs from Jessie Tarbox Beals were so different from the ones in Delve Into Old New York, they really deserved their own post. These photos are from the New York Historical Society Museum & Library, and I would describe each of them as somewhat unsettling. What do you think?
Perhaps I only feel unsettled by the first one because it reminds me I need to work on my posture! This picture was labeled: ‘Please be seated’ – correct poise of legs, body arms and hands.
New York Historical Society Museum & Library. Jessie Tarbox Beals photograph collection, circa 1905-1940
Photographic subject is Alice McKay Kelley. Even the New York Historical Society Museum & Library struggled with this one! They finally settled on this for their description of the photograph: “Kelley, dressed as an angel (?) with headdress and wings or cape, standing on a pedestal in church courtyard (?).”
I wouldn’t describe her as particularly angelic, how about you?
New York Historical Society Museum & Library. Jessie Tarbox Beals photograph collection, circa 1905-1940
And the most unsettling one of all (to me) is Alice Stevens of Windsor, Vermont. I don’t know what it is about this woman, but she alarms me. She’s almost like a specter. And that steady, searching gaze of hers unnerves me. If I was going to guess, I’d say she was a wealthy lady photographed at her own home.
New York Historical Society Museum & Library. Jessie Tarbox Beals photograph collection, circa 1905-1940
old spirituals 
You titled this post exactly right. The middle and bottom pictures are a bit unsettling! The middle picture strikes me as maybe a religious order? Definitely not an angel! The woman in the third picture is wearing a beautiful dress.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Possibly a religious order! That’s a good guess. The last woman is wearing a beautiful dress but I would be afraid of her!
LikeLike
Photo #2 looks like a weird religious statue or the first woman Pope. Photo #3 is unnerving. ”Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly.” Arsenic and Old Lace, the movie, comes to mind.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad you see what I see on Photo #3. She sends a shiver down my spine!
LikeLike
The photo of “Alice Stevens” is my favorite. My interpretation is the photographer wanted to take a portrait with a sense of candidness. The subject’s turned head, lowered chin and use of only available light through the window adds to the sense of candidness.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What is she telling us, I wonder?
LikeLike