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Clarence H. White was an American photographer known for his delicate portraits of women and children and also as a significant teacher of photography. Born on April 8th, 1871 in West Carlisle, Ohio; his family moved to Newark, Ohio when he was sixteen. White, even at a young age, was described as an artistic individual. He was said to fill “sketchbooks with his drawings and paintings before taking up photography in his late teens or early twenties” (Wikipedia). Despite, at the time, retaining a full time job distinctly dissimilar to photography, White had photographed his most renowned work between the years 1893 and 1906.
White was said to be a pictorialist. “Pictorialism approached the camera as a tool that, like the paintbrush and chisel, could be used to make an artistic statement. Thus photographs could have aesthetic value and be linked to the world of art expression” (Britannica). Other notable pictorialists include Robert Demachy, Gertrude Käsebier, Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz. “Pictorialist photographers also favored the inclusion of monograms and the presentation of work in tasteful frames and mats” (Britannica). The majority of White’s photographs were visibly posed, offering a subtle, soft ambiance, almost as if the photographs were paintings. White’s photograph, The Ring Toss, seems to prove this very point. “The Ring Toss is an ingratiating vision of youthful feminine grace in a domestic setting. It signals a remove from the modern urban world and demonstrates White's ability to find sentiment even in the commonplace” (Timeline).
“[White’s] best images…reveal a perceptive appreciation of the special qualities of domesticity and feminine activities, themes that also attracted a number of the painters of the time, including William Merritt Chase and John Singer Sargent” (Rosenblum). There are prominent similarities between White’s photographs and John Singer Sargent’s paintings, particularly The Daughters of Edward D....