Portrait of Lewis Hine, ca. 1930

Happy, happy birthday to Lewis Hine – born this day in history in 1874. Lewis Hine is best known for his documentary work in the early 1900s – including child labor across the country, immigrants at Ellis Island, and workers atop the Empire State Building.

Last year New York Times LENS asked us  who Lewis Hine was, his character, and work. The Lewis Hine exhibition is currently in Rotterdam at the Nederlands Fotomuseum.

Lewis Hine photographing children at table in garden, ca. 1919

Lewis Hine playing tennis, ca. 1935

Portrait of Lewis Hine as small child standing by drum, ca. 1876

Lewis Hine photographing children, ca. 1910

After the Olympics wind down, and some much deserved rest is had, Abby Wambach will return to her hometown, Rochester N.Y. to participate in the project, The Hands That Make Rochester. The photography project will capture 25 images of the hands of people shaping today’s Rochester.

It was George Eastman’s dream to make the city a “better place to live and work.” He made his vision a reality by giving back in the fields that help enrich the community, including arts, culture, health, corporate and civic life, and education.

In that same spirit, the museum along with world-renowned photographer, Gary Schneider will highlight the people who are working to make the city a better and stronger community for all.

“I consider handprint portraits to be as expressive as any of a face, more private, and possibly more revealing. They do not reveal race and, often, neither gender nor age,” said Schneider, who borrows his unique technique from the ancient caves of Lascaux, the Shroud of Turin, and 19th-century spirit photography.

So here’s to Abby and the rest of the Hands That Make Rochester. We are so very proud of you.

This weekend marks the 50th Anniversary Memorial for Marilyn Monroe. Below is a note from our Communications and Visitor Engagement Intern, Zachary Overacker featuring images from our Philippe Halsman collection.

Marilyn Monroe has been an American icon for generations. It’s been 50 years since she has passed – on Aug. 5, 1962 — yet she’s still on magazine covers, the center of the hit NBC show Smash, and becoming an icon to a whole new generation, again.
When you think about it, it’s kind of crazy that someone who passed away several decades ago can still be as relevant as Marilyn Monroe is today. Perhaps it’s because she was the first sex symbol and one of the first huge movie stars. Or, maybe it’s her aura, or her story and how human she was that makes her so popular and so important. I assume it’s a combination of all of those.

Currently in the Eastman House exhibition "See: Untold Stories" is Philippe Halsman's MARILYN AT THE DRIVE-IN, from the portfolio HALSMAN/MARILYN, 1952, printed ca. 1981 © Philippe Halsman

The other day in a store check-out line I noticed that not only was Marilyn on a magazine cover but she was on the majority of the magazine covers. After years of not understanding the obsession with Marilyn, I am starting to finally get it. It’s not just that she was beautiful; she was a huge persona but also human and complicated. She could be this sex icon and at the same time have the innocence of the girl next door. She was really the total package.

MARILYN WITH BARBELLS by Philippe Halsman, from the portfolio HALSMAN/MARILYN, 1952, printed ca. 1981 © Philippe Halsman

It is through this TV show that I’ve developed my interest in (crush on) Marilyn. I remember in grade school girls had pictures of her in their locker or notebook and though I thought she was beautiful I didn’t fully understand the fascination. Now that I better know her story I understanding why she remains iconic … and real.

Marilyn had a very vibrant side to her, but she was also lonely and had a lot of problems, perhaps stemming from her childhood. As an adult Marilyn had problems with drugs, as well as affairs. And yet when watching her movies or staring at her glamorous portraits, you may never know the sad side.

At George Eastman House, you can see her realness in a display of Marilyn photographs by Phlippe Halsman, part of the exhibition See: Untold Stories (up through Sept. 23). Whether it’s the photo of her lying down on a bench lifting weights or just one of her messing around listening to music, each photo is intriguing. I can’t think of anyone else even close to as photogenic as she was. - Zachary Overacker

We recently acquired a shell covered Lighthouse. Yes, a shell covered lighthouse. This delicate construction is of particular interest to us because it contains a daguerreotype inset at the bottom of the tower. The daguerreotype displays three women and a young girl – we believe the image to be circa 1850, while the lighthouse was likely built in the 1920′s.

Alison Nordström our senior curator of photographs explains,

“we welcome the opportunity to exhibit a piece with such visual appeal. The Lighthouse is an example of how we can provide an accessible point of entry for a more serious consideration of our daguerreotype holdings. It also adds value to our collection of similar objects, such as the Ansel Adams coffee tin and the deer leg lamp with photographic lampshade.”

This interesting and admittedly, different piece was carefully examined and cleaned and can be seen currently in the Ideas in Things exhibit.

The Mystery
Recently, Assistant Curator of Photographs Jamie M. Allen and I (Archivist, Joe R. Struble) transported a large oil painting (roughly 4-feet by 3-feet) by the Florentine artist Giacomo Martinetti to the Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State University. The fragile piece had been expertly packaged by Eastman House’s Exhibitions Preparator Nick Marshall.

The painting of three girls is of significant interest and was signed by the artist and dated 1877. Its provenance is unknown, just one of the many mysteries about it.
Its relevance to our collection of photographs rests in the painted renderings of two framed Cabinet Card photographs on the table next to the sisters (if they are sisters) and has led to speculation that these girls are orphans and the painting a sort of memento-mori. (The jury – made up of Photo Collection staff – is definitely out on that, however).

During a visit to Eastman House, students from Buffalo State were taken by the condition of the damaged painting and its needs for treatment (as we had rather hoped).
We were fortunate in getting this object evaluated for treatment by the Art Conservation Department, which will then assign the work to a student, Megan Salazar-Walsh in the Graduate program at Buffalo State.
But the question remains, who are these girls – and who are the man and woman in the Cabinet Card?

The Tour
Founded in 1970, Buffalo State’s Art Conservation Department is one of the leading programs of its kind in North America. Accepting only 10 students a year, the competitive three-year graduate program trains conservators of fine- art and material-cultural heritage. The program’s director and associate professor is Patrick C. Ravines, well-known to Jamie and Joe and others at Eastman House since he was one of the students in our museum’s Advanced Residency Program in Photographic Conservation. He took us on a spellbinding tour of the facility, including the “under construction” third floor, scheduled to open this August. This addition will double the space of the current facility, housed in the building that was previously occupied by Burchfield Penney Art Center. As we went from room to room in the current treatment labs, we were enlightened as to the program’s mission and scope.

A large painting lay carefully supported face down on a table while part of its elaborately carved and gilded wooded frame was being repaired. In another room, a section of a stained glass window, a portrait of a young and unknown (to us) bishop-saint from one of Buffalo’s many glorious, but now unused, Catholic churches was in a state of repair. Evidently, a museum of religious art is in the works for Buffalo, which will preserve and display these treasures.
We were not prepared, however, for the specimen in the next room — a taxidermied juvenile female orangutan, standing and staring glassy-eyed as we entered. She had once been a living resident of the famous Buffalo Zoo, and then stuffed and mounted at the Buffalo Museum of Science. Moth-eaten and coming apart at the seams, she had been rescued by one of the Buffalo conservation students and returned to her red-furred glory, ready to be admired again.

All-in-all, our experience in Buffalo was a wonderful “snapshot” of the varieties of material objects that relate to the field of conservation and an opportunity to make a connection with colleagues in a related endeavor, all on a lovely summer day.