Family

One of a small circle of women photographers who were active and recognized for the high quality of their work around the turn of the century, Eva Watson-Schütze operated a thriving photography studio in Philadelphia. In 1900 she was a participant in both the Paris exhibition of American women photographers, organized by Frances Benjamin Johnston, and F. Holland Day's exhibition of the New American School at the Royal Photographic Society in London. Her work was also included in the series "The Foremost Women Photographers in America" published in the Ladies' Home journal in 1901. Photogravures of Watson-Schütze's images were included by Stieglitz in his magazine, Camera Work.

Her contemporaries described Watson-Schütze's oeuvre in terms of daintiness and beauty rather than of compositional strength of line and form. This assessment is borne out by this luminous portrait of an unknown family. Light streams in through the window, illuminating the room with a sunny cheerfulness and warmth that is echoed by the affection the family members demonstrate to each other. The storybook quality of Watson-Schütze's photographs may account for her somewhat obscure position in the annals of photographic history, where sweetness and beauty are often discounted.