Our specialists lovingly assemble hundreds of images into multiple sales every year, but there are always a few items in each auction that catch their attention in a different way. Here's a look at Swann Vice President and Director of Photographs & Photobooks Daile Kaplan's top five picks from our upcoming auction Icons & Images: Fine & Vernacular Photographs below, along with a few words from her about each piece.
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Lot 63: Lewis W. Hine, Sadie Pfeifer, a Cotton Mill Spinner, Lancaster, South Carolina, silver print, 1908, printed 1940s. Estimate $10,000 to $15,000.
Lewis Hine's remarkable study of Sadie Pfeifer captures her dreary day job working in a mill. National legislation prohibiting child labor wouldn't be enacted until 1938, though this photo remains haunting as child labor continues to be a growing problem in the developing world.
Lot 171: A pair of mugshots of Russian-American anarcho-feminist Emma Goldman, silver prints, circa 1901. Estimate $1,800 to $2,200.
A rare Bertillon-style mugshot of the fresh-faced activist. Emma Goldman continually challenged the status quo, espousing prison reform, free love, free speech and anti-capitalist principles.
Lot 205: Paul Outerbridge, Jr., Woman with red lipstick in a swimming pool, Ektacolor print, 1940s. Estimate $10,000 to $15,000.
One of the most important advertising photographers of the 20th century, Paul Outerbridge, Jr.'s upbeat image displays a brilliant use of color, successfully presenting the photograph as a fine art form.
Lot 320: Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Center for Photographic Studies, Portfolio Three, "Ralph Eugene Meatyard," including ten silver prints, 1959-71, printed 1974. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.
An optician by trade, Ralph Eugene Meatyard's images relied on friends and family members to explore identity, and often reference surrealist influences.
Lot 360: Lalla Essaydi, Converging Territories #10, oversized chromogenic print, 2003. Estimate $9,000 to $12,000.
Lalla Essaydi's photograph is a tour-de-force of image and text. While her artwork draws from her background and personal experiences as a Moroccan woman, this image encourages cross-cultural understanding.
More information and highlights from this sale can be found here, or check out our catalogue for a complete look.