Indulgences

Indulgences· 4 min

Evening Dress, 1958: The Newspaper Studio Portrait

There was a time when every great newspaper kept a portrait studio of its own, and the famous, passing through the city, were expected to sit for it.… Indulgences· 4 min

The Jailhouse Portrait: The Stare That Sold a Generation

Every famous action photograph casts a shadow still — the frame the studio knew would work in a newspaper column, at lobby-card size, in a fan magazine at… Indulgences· 4 min

The Jailhouse Dance: How One 1957 Number Changed the Screen Musical

Before it was a song anyone could hum, it was a set: a row of stylised cell bars, a bare white stage, and a young singer in a… Indulgences· 4 min

Lace in Profile: Light Through Fabric

Of all the frames in the 1920s studio set, this is the one that asks to be looked at quietly. Our print Lace in Profile shows a sitter… Indulgences· 4 min

Arm Raised: The Classical Pose in the Glamour Studio

One arm raised and curved over the head, the other fallen at the side, eyes lowered, weight settled into a long, quiet line — the pose is two… Indulgences· 4 min

The Sheer Gown: The Studio’s Most Enduring Frame

Some photographs are remembered because they caught a moment. This one is remembered because it caught a pose so complete that the moment became permanent. Our print The… Indulgences· 4 min

Platinum and Plume: The Feathered Portrait Sittings

Every glamour studio of the 1920s kept feathers. They were kept the way a painter keeps white paint: as the material that catches light best, softens any edge… Indulgences· 3 min

The Tapestry Room: Inside the 1920s Glamour Studio

In the 1920s, the most glamorous room in New York theatre was not a stage. It was a photographer’s studio a few streets from Broadway, where the era’s… Indulgences· 4 min

The Back Seat: Cinema Without a Camera

The back seat of a car at night is the smallest theatre in the world. Two people, a few feet of leather, black glass on every side, and…