A series of six signed vintage gelatin silver photographs of English Test cricketers, taken in Sydney in the mid-1920s
All photographs are signed by the subjects; all but one is credited to May Moore (with her signature on the photograph [SP], the mount [SM] or in the negative [SN], as indicated below). Image sizes are given; all are presented on their original studio mounts, now archivally remounted and matted, ready for framing. The subjects are John Douglas (195 × 145 mm, not signed by Moore); Arthur Gilligan (300 × 190 mm, SM); Patsy Hendren (195 × 135 mm, SN); Jack Hobbs (305 × 205 mm, SN); Henry Howell (200 × 145 mm, SN); and Maurice Tate (185 × 135 mm, SP). New Zealand-born May Moore (1881-1931) emigrated to Australia in 1910 and opened her first studio the following year in Sydney. Working initially together with her sister Mina (who ran her own studio in Melbourne from 1916), her excellent portrait photography attracted a large clientele, especially among artistic circles. May in particular photographed many Sydney celebrities, and it is not surprising to find that the cricketing heroes of the day made it to her studio. With 'a studio style using dramatic single source lighting, dark backgrounds, rich brown toned papers and sombre colour mounts, and favouring head and shoulder studies ... [the sisters] were extraordinary in their ability to portray a range of moods appropriate to their sitters' (Gael Newton). This series of images certainly exemplifies this impressive style. Illness forced May Moore to retire about 1928, and she died of cancer in 1931. [6 items].
Item #86208
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