“Sacred Art Modernized": F. Holland Day, Louise Imogen Guiney, and the Staging of Day's 1898 Photographic "Sacred Studies" in Norwood, Massachusetts

In January of 1899, photographer F. Holland Day’s new series of images was front page news, and received the following headlines in the Boston Herald: “SACRED ART MODERNIZED;” “Photograph of the Crucifixion from Living Figures;” “Mr. F.H. Day Finds a New and Important Work for the Camera;” “The Models for His Group Clothed with Historical Accuracy;” “Scene Selected in Norwood Represented as Nearly as Possible Natural Features of Calvary;” and, “Picture Completed Without Marring Either the Meaning or Spirit of the Subject.”  Day began this series, an outdoor experimental venture for the camera, early in the summer of 1898.  In the photographs, friends and models posed as mourners, soldiers and apostles surrounding Day, who chose to portray the role of Christ on the cross. For some viewers, the images were successful as both art and objects of devotion; for others, Day’s venture was a failed experiment. According to Day, these images were a means to promote the legitimacy of photography as a fine art in an era when camera work had not yet been legitimized as such.  He explained, “There will always be narrow minds to question the rights of portraying sacred subjects in any medium: to them the less said the better; but to those who criticize only the photographer’s right to these subjects, I can but advise patience….” This presentation explores the transatlantic reactions to Day’s ‘Sacred Studies’and the role the photographs played in the legitimation of photography as a fine art. The staging of these images would not have been possible without the help of Day’s close friend Louise Imogen Guiney, the famed Irish Catholic poet; together, the pair challenged accepted notions of portrayals of the divine while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of “historical accuracy.”