Mother and Child.

DORR, Nell.

Item Number: 95106

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954.

First edition of Nell Dorr’s personal and moving photobook. Octavo, original half cloth over pictorial boards, pictorial endpapers, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the dedication page, “To Marie Cosindas Remembering a happy winter night in Boston – and a family of photographs. With every good wish Nell Dorr Feb. 3. 1960.” The recipient, Marie Considas was an American photographer best known for her evocative still life and color portraits. She was one of the first photographers to incorporate color photography into her work, which distinguished her from other photographers in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1962, Ansel Adams recommended Cosindas to Polaroid for their artist trial of their new instant-developing color film. She was the fifth woman to have a show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1966. In near fine condition with light rubbing.

American photographer Nell Dorr experimented with a range of photographic techniques including the photogram, macrophotography, negative retouching, and alternative printing processes. During the Second World War, Dorr took up residence in New Hampshire with her daughters and grandchildren whom she photographed extensively. The resultant images were complied in Mother and Child, the exhibition and publication of which was prompted by her grief over the death of her daughter, Elizabeth. The work was featured in MoMA's 1955 world-touring exhibition The Family of Man, for which four of her images were selected by Edward Steichen.