This photograph appeared in 1914 in the journal American Photography. It startled me.
The picture jumped out from pages of shadowy portraits and idyllic landscapes, largely the work of the Pictorialist photographers, whose images were painterly and softly blurred.
The Pictorialists insisted that photographs were far more than proof of existence; they could be artistic, too. Indeed, Pictorialism became a popular aesthetic movement around the turn of the twentieth century.
Obviously, this particular photograph, “Playing Casino,” is not of the style.
Initially, I thought it was amusing: two slightly scary-looking children posed in a commercial studio in Buffalo, N.Y.
But the hard-to-read notation, "New England Convention," suggests it was intended to disturb the viewer.
The New England Convention of Methodist Men took place in Boston in November 1914. It drew thousands of Methodists from all over the country. The program addressed missionary work, Prohibition, industrialism, and immigration in New England.
"Playing Casino" must have been used to illustrate the social corruption of young children, perhaps in an exhibition, at the Methodist convention. Its inclusion in American Photography is puzzling. Someone must have snuck it in.
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| A typical Pictorialist photograph |
