Girl and Dog

Date

1904

Creator

In the rural isolation of New England, George Seeley created elegant Pictorialist photographs that attained international renown. He was a public school art teacher in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, who made stylized photographs in his spare time. In this evocative image, the solitary figure of the artist’s sister Laura embodies the Symbolist style. Dry leaves covering the forest floor suggest that she and her dog rest during an autumn walk in the woods. She relaxes with hands crossed on her knees, holding a chain lead attached to staghound’s collar. By contrast to her ease, the dog is alert, having spotted something of interest out of frame on the left. It has just raised itself from the ground, head high and ears pricked. The animal is poised to spring forward with its right foreleg raised. The tip of the dog’s attentive right ear falls exactly at the point of its mistress’s collar, a contact point of two opposing triangles that seem to tingle with communication. from Touchstones of the Twentieth Century: A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame (exhibition, 2020-21)