Blindman's Buff
Clarence H. White
American, 1871–1925
1898
A palladium photographic print that stages two young women playing blindman’s buff so a simple domestic game becomes a deliberately poetic study of movement, intimacy, and light.
You’re struck first by the luminous backlight that silhouettes the blindfolded girl in a flowing white dress as she reaches forward, while her dark‑clad companion stands still—edges softened and tones rendered in a warm, matte palette that makes the doorway read like a small stage.
A telling example of American pictorialism, it argues that photography can evoke painterly atmosphere and emotional narrative and helped shape early twentieth‑century approaches to photographic expression and teaching.
Medium
Palladium print
Dimensions
7 3/4 × 5 7/8" (19.7 × 14.9 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
440.1942
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
