Clarence White Photography and The Tarot

I’m excited to share with you some photographs by the photographer Clarence Hudson White. He lived from 1871 to 1925, and was born here in Ohio.

In the early 20^th century, the Photo-Secession movement was born. This movement was all about seeing photography as fine art and not just being for documentation. Pictorialism was celebrated and emphasized within the movement, which is a style of photography in which photos were usually manipulated to turn them into art. The subject matter was also usually styled and posed. Basically, Pictorialism was all about the use of artistic interpretation in photography instead of strictly capturing reality.

When I look at Pictorialism photos, they all seem very painterly to me. They often use dramatic lighting with soft focus, which gives them a look I’d place somewhere between romantic and ghostly. One of my favorite photographers is Julia Margaret Cameron, who was my introduction to Pictorialism. So I was excited to see another Pictorialist photographer in our collection: Clarence Hudson White.

I’ve selected four of my favorite photos by White from our collection to share. I felt drawn to these photos for many reasons. My main reason for selecting these photos is that they remind me a lot of tarot cards. Each of these photos depicts one person not looking at the camera, and we see them in the act of doing something. This is typically how the art on tarot cards is, as well. The art on tarot cards is allegorical, so in comparing these photos to tarot cards, I’ll be sharing the allegorical meanings I personally draw from the photos.

The Watcher

1906

The first photo I’d like to share is called The Watcher. This is the first photograph of White’s I saw that made me think of the art of tarot cards. It reminds me a lot of the card ‘The Hermit’, which depicts a man standing alone on a mountain facing the left, holding a lantern. The woman in The Watcher meanwhile holds a crystal ball. ‘The Hermit’ card is about soul-searching, introspection, and solitude. I feel that this photo represents similar ideas. Crystal balls are used for divination and clairvoyance; for getting a clear vision. To me, this woman has retreated to nature to be in solitude with her crystal ball as she sets out on a journey of self discovery.

Figure Study (Mabel Cramer)

1907

Figure Study (Mabel Cramer) makes me think of ‘The Magician’ in the tarot. The art of ‘The Magician’ is a bit different from this, but the card is about manifestation. The man in ‘The Magician’ art points with one hand to the sky and with one hand to the Earth, representing a connection between the spiritual realm and the material realm. He is able to manifest through this connection. The woman in Figure Study holds a crystal ball, looking up, potentially to the spiritual realm. She too could be connecting to something more than the material realm in search of guidance to aid her in manifesting her desire.

Rose Pastor Stokes, Caritas Islands, Connecticut

1909

This photograph reminds me of ‘Two of Swords’. Again, the art is slightly different, but both the card and this photo feature a woman standing by the sea. The woman in ‘Two of Swords’ is blindfolded, and the card represents weighing options and making difficult choices. Those are things I imagined the woman in this photo to be doing when I first saw it. I too often like to go somewhere to be alone when thinking things over, and I can imagine the woman in this photo being on the brink of making a life changing decision. She certainly seems like the heroine of an epic story.

Among the Branches (Letitia Felix)

1899

The last photo I’m sharing is Among the Branches (Letitia Felix). This photo immediately struck me as being rather sad. It made me think about mourning and grief. The tarot card I’d associate it with is ‘Five of Cups’, a card which is associated with regret, loneliness, mourning, and loss. The woman in this photo looks down to the ground solemnly, lost in thought. I wonder what this woman could be thinking about? The death of a loved one? A big mistake she made? Something she never said but wish she had?

These are of course just my own personal interpretations of the photos. The beauty of both art and reading tarot cards is that we all might see and feel something different. I’m not sure what Clarence Hudson White’s intentions were with these photographs, and that is often the case with art. But it’s so fun and rewarding to look closely and use our own experiences and knowledge to find or create meaning.