George Seeley, The Firefly 1907

George Seeley

The Firefly, 1907

Camera Work XX

Photogravure, 20.2 x 15.7 cm

The enigmatic quality of Seeley’s work is evident in the otherworldly figure and auras of light in The Firefly.

George Seeley, a member of the Photo­Secession, was born in 1880 in Stock­bridge, Massachusetts, where he lived all of his life. He studied art at the Massachu­setts Normal Art School in Boston. Seeley first received attention as a photographer when he exhibited in the First American Salon of 1904 where Alvin Langdon Co­burn, one of the judges, brought him into contact with Stieglitz. Recognizing Seeley's talent, Stieglitz invited him to join the Photo-Secession. From 1906 to 1910, Seeley was an active member of the group, and his work was exhibited in Stieglitz's gallery "291" and reproduced in Camera Work.

After the break with Stieglitz's group, declining interest in the Pictorialist aesthetic and the increasing unavailability of platinum paper after World War I contributed to the demise of Seeley's photographic career. He continued to exhibit his work into the 1930s, although he had practically ceased to make new work. An amateur ornithologist who was active in his church, Seeley took up oil painting in his later years and was a correspondent for the local Stockbridge, Massachusetts, newspaper.  An author­ity on birds, he was for many years asso­ciated with the Biological Survey of Wash­ington for which he maintained a landing station and reported bird migration. Toward the end of his life Seeley achieved recognition as a painter of brass­es and coppers in still life canvases. He died in Stockbridge in 1955. [1] [2]

Reproduced/Collections

Doty, Robert M. Photo-secession: Photography As a Fine Art. N.Y: Eastman, 1960. plate XXII

Peterson, Christian A. Camera Work: Process & Image : [exhibition, Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, August 31-November 3, 1985, Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, November 22, 1985-February 2, 1986]. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Institute of arts, 1985. p. 67.

Witkin, , London, and Shestack. The Photograph Collector's Guide. London: Secker & Warburg, 1979. p. 215

Philadelphia Museum of Art 1966-205-20(1)

Orsay PHO 1981 26 27

[1] https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/person/103KD9 cited 06/02/24

[2] Aperture, Inc. Camera Work : A Critical Anthology. Edited by Jonathan Green, Aperture, Inc., 1973.