The Manger (Ideal Motherhood)

On the vanguard of American Pictorialism, a movement that sought to elevate photography's status by emulating painting, Käsebier believed the medium to be a means of self-expression. Her shadowy portrait of a mother and child set against the simple geometry of a stable stall demonstrates her sense of design as well as her reverence for maternity. With a transparent veil and classical draperies, she transformed an ordinary woman into the archetypal Madonna of religious painting. The atmospheric contrast of light and shadow, soft focus, and the velvety surface of the platinum print heighten the painterly effect.