the photographer's printing notations in pencil on the reverse, flush-mounted to thick paper, signed, titled, and dated in ink and a Light Gallery stamp on the reverse, 1915, printed in the 1960s

Acquired from Jill Quasha, New York, 1990

Variants of this image are reproduced in Circa 1916 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998) as the frontispiece and pls. 25-26.  According to Paul Strand authority Anthony Montoya, the present photograph may be the only extant print of this image.  There is no print of the image in the Paul Strand Archive.

As is frequently seen with Paul Strand's photographs, this print has the photographer's extensive printing notations written on the reverse. Because the print is flush-mounted to thick paper, these are only partially visible. But the following notations can be made out at various places on the reverse: 'Lumitra' [a type of photographic paper Strand favored in the 1960s]; '55D Developer'; 'shadows'; '______ parts shaded.' The photograph has a rich, slightly warm tonality, and a smooth, only faintly glossy, surface. It is essentially in excellent condition. When examined closely in raking light a faint series of creases can be seen in the lower left quadrant which do not appear to break the emulsion. Also visible in raking light is the photographer's original retouching. There is a light brown stain on the reverse of the mount, on the left side, which is not visible in the image itself. Paul Strand authority Anthony Montoya suggests that this print may have been coated by Strand (as was his custom), and the faint stain may be due to the coating overlapping onto the reverse of the mount. In any case, it is inconsequential.
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