Theron Kilmer Photograph Collection
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Abstract
Artistic portraits of male sitters, mainly physicians and clergymen.
Biographical Note
Theron Wendell Kilmer (1872-1946), a well-known New York pediatrician and police surgeon, pursued his photographic avocation by specializing in soft-focus head-and-shoulder portraits of men, most of whom were his friends and/or colleagues. Kilmer won many prizes for his photographs of character-filled faces. He also published more than a dozen portraits and technical articles in the American Annual of Photography and in Photo-Era, to which he contributed from ca. 1915 until his death. He was a member of the Royal Photographic Society and the Oval Table Society
Arrangement
Photographs are arranged alphabetically by surname, with unidentified sitters filed at the end.
Scope and Content Note
The Theron W. Kilmer Portrait Photograph Collection spans the period from ca. 1920 to ca. 1942, and primarily contains silver gelatin and a few gum bichromate photographs of men. About half of the 66 portraits depict physicians, clergymen, and other men identified by name. The remaining portraits are studies of African-American men, men with beards, and such ethnic character types as "The Sheik" and "The Hindu." Most of the prints are signed and bear stickers from camera club exhibitions throughout the United States.
Kilmer's writings on photography provide a window into his techniques, as well as his personal aesthetic. In the American Annual of Photography (1942) he explained that he enjoyed seeing the faces of his colleagues on his study walls. He also wrote there that he photographed men because "Women usually want all the "lines taken out" - leaving the face a smooth globe, devoid of all character." Kilmer was particularly interested in facial lines as evidence of expression and character.
Photographs are arranged alphabetically by surname, with unidentified sitters filed at the end. In some cases, further information about the sitters has been included in the box and folder listing.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers.
Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. See guidelines in Print Room for details.
Use Restrictions
Permission to reproduce any Print Room holdings through publication must be obtained from:
Rights and Reproductions
The New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 270
Fax: (212) 579-8794
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as Theron W. Kilmer Portrait Photograph Collection, PR 030, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
Provenance
Gift of Mrs. Wendell Kilmer, 1973.