[Teenager with Sleeping Child, Linefork, Kentucky]

[Teenager with Sleeping Child, Linefork, Kentucky]

Doris Ulmann, 1930–1934

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Artist: Doris Ulmann (American, 1882–1934)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Size: Image: 20.3 × 15.2 cm (8 × 6 in.)
Culture: American
Museum: J. Paul Getty Museum
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Doris Ulmann’s unlikely composition juxtaposing the darkness of a log cabin interior with unorthodox lighting and a confused sense of exterior space, this "discovered" moment between an exhausted toddler and a teenage girl (perhaps the child’s mother or sister) is a remarkably sensitive depiction of innocent trust and the maternal impulse. Its realism contrasts sharply with Pictorialist Gertrude Kasebier's (1852-1934) more academic portrayals of the mother-and-child theme (87.XM.138) and foreshadows the documentary style of later New Deal photographers, such as Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), who reported on the human element of the Great Depression (see 2001.51.2, 2001.51.5, and 98.XM.162).

Judith Keller. Doris Ulmann, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996), 96. ©1996, J. Paul Getty Trust.

Text: J. Paul Getty Trust, CC BY 4.0.

More by Doris Ulmann

Mangrove Scene

Doris Ulmann, 1929–1930, printed 1933

Plate 1

Doris Ulmann, 1929–1930, printed 1933

Boats in Harbor

Boats in Harbor

Doris Ulmann, about 1910–1920

Untitled (Fishing Nets)

Untitled (Fishing Nets)

Doris Ulmann, 1920

[Portrait of Young Girl, Probably Kentucky]

[Portrait of Young Girl, Probably Kentucky]

Doris Ulmann, 1927–1934

Ruth St. Denis

Doris Ulmann, c. 1925

Woman Weaving a Basket

Woman Weaving a Basket

Doris Ulmann, 1920s

Max Broedel

Doris Ulmann, 1920

A Study of Hands (John Jacob Niles Unlocking the Door)

A Study of Hands (John Jacob Niles Unlocking the Door)

Doris Ulmann, about 1932–1934

William Campbell, Abingdon, Virginia

William Campbell, Abingdon, Virginia

Doris Ulmann, c. 1930

Feet Washing

Doris Ulmann, 1929–1930, printed 1933

Baptismal Scene

Baptismal Scene

Doris Ulmann, 1929–1930, printed 1933

Visually similar

[Mishongnovi (Mother and Child)]

[Mishongnovi (Mother and Child)]

Adam Clark Vroman, 1895–1904

[Gertrude O'Malley holding Charles, flanked by her sister Hermine]

[Gertrude O'Malley holding Charles, flanked by her sister Hermine]

Gertrude Käsebier, 1900–1901

[Gertrude O'Malley, Charles and baby Elizabeth]

[Gertrude O'Malley, Charles and baby Elizabeth]

Gertrude Käsebier, 1907

[Gertrude O'Malley and son Charles]

[Gertrude O'Malley and son Charles]

Gertrude Käsebier, 1900

Maternal Delight III

Maternal Delight III

Anders Zorn, 1883

[Portrait of Young Girl, Probably Kentucky]

[Portrait of Young Girl, Probably Kentucky]

Doris Ulmann, 1927–1934

[Tenement House Madonna]

[Tenement House Madonna]

Lewis Hine, 1905

[Close-up Profile of J.J. Niles in Hat]

Doris Ulmann, about 1927–1934

Helen Burke

Childe Hassam, 1917

La Madonna Riposata

La Madonna Riposata

Julia Margaret Cameron, 1864

Young Wife, Possibly North Carolina

Young Wife, Possibly North Carolina

Doris Ulmann, about 1928

Nancy, Paul (at 3 1/2) and Claire (at 5 months)

Nancy, Paul (at 3 1/2) and Claire (at 5 months)

Gertrude Käsebier, ca. 1903