The Face of Beauty Through Eva Watson-SchĂźtzeâs Lenses
The whole visible universe is but a storehouse of images and signs to which the imagination will give a relative place and value; it is a sort of pasture which the imagination must digest and transform. â Marcel Proust
We will never come to know what inspired Eva Watson-SchĂźtze to take up a camera in hand and explore this âstorehouse of imagesâ through its lenses. An inspiration is often the result of an inner brooding which reveals itself in various forms, but keeps the source carefully hidden at the depth of our subconscious minds. Â It is not so important to go enquiring for that either. A wild flower by the road may compel a poet to write an ode to such a beauty, but those who carry no âpoetryâ in their hearts will remain oblivious to its charm.
In 1883, Eva Watson-SchĂźtze took up her paintbrush and devoted the next six years of her life to learning painting under the auspices of such well known figures as Thomas Eakins. By early â90s, her appreciation for and subsequent knowhow of the pictorial movement started growing rapidly. In the later part of the same decade she not only set up a studio for herself, but became an established pictorial photographer in Philadelphia. The inaugural Philadelphia Photographic Salon exhibited her work which also gave her an opportunity to be acquainted with Alfred Stieglitz.
With growing fame and success came the opportunities of showcasing her work far and wide. It led her to believe that, âThere will be a new era, and women will fly into photography.â But Eva Watson-SchĂźtze herself was never satisfied with being branded a âwoman photographer.â She even objected to being a part of a pioneering exhibition of American women photographers, scheduled in Paris, on this ground. She wanted her aesthetic visions to be recognised âirrespective of sex.â
Eva Watson-SchĂźtzeâs forceful fine art photography earned her a membership of The Linked Ring. Six years before her death she also became a director of The Renaissance Society. Despite the obvious difficulties of working in a still conservative society, Eva Watson-SchĂźtzeâs (1867 â 1935) greatest achievement is not limited to, and should not be defined as, going against the tide of time as a woman. Her finest accomplishment must be in observing the face of beauty piercing through the grime and dust of modern civilisation. For, in this maze of life, it is easier to forget how simple, pure and beautiful the sunshine on our back or the colour of autumn leaves could be.Â
With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy. â Lope de Vega
