Stunning Vintage Portrait Photography by Clarence Hudson White

The shelter, 1897

Clarence Hudson White (1871–1925) was an American photographer, teacher and a founding member of the Photo-Secession movement. He grew up in small towns in Ohio, where his primary influences were his family and the social life of rural America. After visiting the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, he took up photography.

h/t: vintag.es

Woman seated on a porch railing, 1897

Although he was completely self-taught in the medium, within a few years he was internationally known for his pictorial photographs that captured the spirit and sentimentality of America in the early twentieth century. As he became well known for his images, White was sought out by other photographers who often traveled to Ohio to learn from him. He became friends with Alfred Stieglitz and helped advance the cause of photography as a true art form.

Blind man’s bluff, Newark, Ohio, 1898

In 1906, White and his family moved to New York City in order to be closer to Stieglitz and his circle and to further promote his own work. While there he became interested in teaching photography and in 1914 he established the Clarence H. White School of Photography, the first educational institution in America to teach photography as art.

Girl with harp (Letitia Felix), Newark, Ohio, 1898

Due to the demands of his teaching duties, his own photography declined and White produced little new work during the last decade of his life. In 1925 he suffered a heart attack and died while teaching students in Mexico City.

Girl with sword, circa 1898

Lady in black with statuette (Lady with Venus), 1898

Spring, 1898

Springtime, 1898

Study, 1898

The bubble [variant], 1898

The bubble, 1898

Among the branches, 1899

Evening interior, 1899

Letitia Felix seated at table, 1899

On the old stair, 1899

Sarah Walker, 1899

Study pose, 1899

The readers (Letitia Felix and Ada Follett), Newark, Ohio, 1899

Edge of the woods – evening, 1900

Elizabeth Felix with paperwhites, circa 1900

He loves me, he loves me not, 1900

Portrait of a woman holding flower, circa 1900

The orchard, Newark, Ohio, 1902

Am Fenster, 1904

The kiss, Terre Haute, Indiana, 1904

The round table, 1904

Morning, 1905

Morning, the bathroom 1906

Girl with bowl, 1907

Miss Mary Everett, 1908

Mrs. Fox (Kate Parsenau), New York, 1908

Beneath the bough, 1909

Portrait of an unidentified woman, 1909

Portrait of Annette Kellermann diving, 1909

Untitled [Florence Peterson], 1909

Woman in landscape, circa 1909

Portrait of a woman seated, circa 1910

Two women in an orchard, circa 1910

Woman in landscape, Maine, 1910

Woman playing violin, circa 1910

Woman seated in front of window, circa 1910

Dancer from Barnard College Greek Games, 1911

At the studio window (Mrs. Levisohn), circa 1912

Girl with fan, 1914

Portrait of a dancer, circa 1915

Portrait of Mrs. Josephine Wallace, 1916

Woman with crystal ball, 1917

Alla Nazimova, New York, 1919

Woman with feather fan, circa 1919