Joseph Turner Keiley was an American attorney and photographer. He was born in Maryland but spent his life in Brooklyn, New York.
An attorney by trade, Keiley developed a deep love and appreciation for art and literature. While he cofounded his own law firm, Keiley & Haviland, he wasn’t interested in politics. Instead, he devoted his free time to literature and art, especially the new field of photography.
He began working as an amateur photographer in the mid-1890s and a fateful meeting with Gertrude Käsebier encouraged this interest. Aside from his photographs, he produced many technical articles on the subject and began to build a strong reputation. I believe the only Keiley photograph we’ve covered prior to this on Old Spirituals is Lenore.
Joseph Keiley, photographed by Gertrude Käsebier in 1900:
wikimedia
In 1900 Joseph Keiley joined the Camera Club of New York and had a one-person exhibition in the Club’s gallery. He met Alfred Stieglitz there, who founded the Photo-Secession movement. Stieglitz was serving as the editor of the Club’s journal Camera Notes, and the two quickly became lifelong friends and collaborators. Keiley soon became the Associate Editor of the journal, as well as one of its most prolific writers and photographic contributors.
A 1907 photograph by Keiley:
artsmia.org
In 1902, Keiley’s prints were included in the inaugural exhibition of the Photo-Secession at the National Arts Club. Stieglitz founded the Camera Work journal in 1903 and named Keiley as the associate editor.
Mercedes de Cordoba, the wife of the prominent modernist painter Arthur Carles, was one of his favorite subjects:
artsmia.org
americanart.si.edu
This photographic style was pioneered by Joseph Keiley and Alfred Stieglitz. They coated the exposed platinum print with glycerine to mimic a wash drawing which gives the image a look that blends the brushstrokes of painter with photography,
Met Museum
Joseph Keiley died at home in Brooklyn of Bright’s Disease on January 22, 1914. He was 44 years old.
During his life Keiley’s photographs were exhibited in more than two dozen international exhibitions. People like Joseph Keiley amaze me. He produced a tremendous amount of photography, experimental techniques, journal articles, and instruction in his short lifetime, all while practicing law. But he was more than that. You get a sense of the deep loss his friend Stieglitz felt. He wrote a eulogy for him and Keiley’s name remained on the masthead of the Camera Work journal until it ceased publication in 1917.
Keiley made this picture in July 1903. He called it The Last Hour.
artsmia.org
old spirituals 
he looks intelligent and artistic
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He does! Maybe he was a brooding genius
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I enjoy these windows into the past. Such a shame Keiley died so young.
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Thank you! Keiley made a strong impact while he was here though, and he was deeply missed when he was gone. Nobody could ask for better than that.
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Billy Joel’s song title is fitting for use here: Only The Good Die Young. Keiley was certainly multi-talented. I wonder what area of law he practiced?
My experience has lead me to conclude that physicians often like photography. For example, Dr. Joseph Gascho, now a retired cardiologist, is also a poet, photographer and writer. He uses photography to illuminate his patients and colleagues, including maintenance personnel that supported the facility. His photographers hung on the wall of the Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA. How a Mennonite farm boy went from a one-room schoolhouse to become a prominent physician, educator, and author is summarized in this short story:
https://emu.edu/now/news/2022/emu-2022-distinguished-service-award-dr-joseph-gascho-68/
When I read about people like Dr. Gascho, I recalled the aphorism: The harder I work the luckier I get.” That axiom is often incorrectly attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Research by Quote Investigator reports the Thomas Jefferson Monticello website states there is not evidence to support the attribution. QI did find that Coleman Cox, a Coolidge Era sales manager who wrote a book entitled Straight Talk, was the first person to record such a quote. Cox’s book is filled with hundred of his “witty sayings” and principles he believes to be valid. The book was published in 1928. A few other pearls of wisdom he offers are:
When a man tells you his is busy as a bee, it’s well to remember a bee is his busiest when trying to sting someone.
Fearlessness is the mother of confidence.
Make people respect you. You can start them doing it by always respecting others.
Have your boss swear by you — not at you.
Looking for faults, like charity, should begin at home.
I’ll close with one of my favorites:
Loud dress and loud talk have caused many a salesman’s solicitation to go unheard.
You’ve got to love The Roaring Twenties, the decade of economic growth, cultural change and a vibrant social life.
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This is a good one! I think you’re on to something with the illumination and photography and doctors. It makes sense too.
“A bee is his busiest when trying to sting someone” so true! There are people who get downright industrious in such circumstances!
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