The argument over whether photography should be considered an art form seems laughable to us today. Yet, beginning in the 1880s and lasting into the early 20th century, members of amateur photographic clubs and societies the world over deemed the topic of artistic photography worthy of a decades-long shouting match. With several notable exceptions, photographic imagery in the 19th century was utilitarian in purpose—documenting people and places—and usually for a fee. Aesthetic stagnation and conformity was often the result. Market forces toward the end of the century changed this. A new syntax emerged in the language of photography with the commercialization of the dry plate in the 1880s, along with advanced cameras and lenses, experimental printing techniques and other innovations. Photographers—including inspired hobbyists, rich amateurs and enlightened professionals—were encouraged by this progress. In turn, their work and advancements were chronicled for a larger audience in the popular photographic press of the day. Artistic photography, a movement begun roughly 140 years ago, was the result of this progress and continues to be a force inspiring modern day practitioners.

PhotoSeed, having received honors in the press including a prestigious 2012 Webby award in the Art category only a year after its 2011 launch, represents a robust online record of this early fine-art photography movement. Most importantly, we are a private archive with simple goals: beauty, truth, scholarship and enjoyment for all who visit.

The present site, newly relaunched in May, 2024, is the second generation designed and built by the talent behind the first, with acknowledgments below. With the bulk of this evolving archive comprising work originating from the late 1880s to about 1920, one can find everything from delicate platinum prints to exquisite hand-pulled photogravures, gelatin-silver, bromoil, cyanotype, as well as a myriad of uncommon and obsolete prints produced singularly or published in portfolios and journals. Not merely presented, as found in most online forums, but researched, annotated, and commented on, PhotoSeed hopes its wealth of primary source material will reward the intrepid or simply curious, and ultimately inspire those willing to dig deeper into this glorious early era of artistic photography.

With the added purpose of establishing a more concise historical record for often forgotten photographers working in this period, the site owner hopes to create a broader, world-wide discussion and re-evaluation for this material. We look forward to your input, suggestions and criticisms for the purpose of improving PhotoSeed for all who visit.

Photographic historian, collector, curator, author, and former newspaper photojournalist David Spencer is a native New Englander who spent three decades working at some of the finest picture newspapers in the United States. These included The Palm Beach Post, the former Pittsburgh Press and The State Journal-Register in Illinois, among others. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in New York state, his love affair with all things photographic stretches back to childhood. These were the days when the old Life magazine was still delivered in the mail weekly—a space where he found excitement, inspiration and magic. These qualities became more tangible when picking up a package of printed family photos, where a separate compartment held the developed negatives—proof the invisible really could become visible after the roll of film was dropped off for processing the week before.

Throughout his working career he has garnered numerous awards including being named a three-time recipient of Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association as well as a photo team member honored as finalist for the Pulitzer Prize while in Florida. For a further trip down memory lane, check out this gallery of “Spencevisions” work and philosophy during his fruitful newspaper career.

We would be amiss for not thanking the motivators, influencers and teachers encountered through a creative life.

Tyler Craft & Jay David

Since the mid aughts, Taos, New Mexico based front-end engineer, bread baker, and music fanatic Tyler, and St. Louis, Missouri based freelance interactive designer and historical home renovator Jay have been responsible for the site architecture and design of PhotoSeed.

Mark Katzman & Alan Griffiths

Also from St. Louis, Mark is a commercial photographer whose Art of the Photogravure website is the definitive destination for those wanting to explore this all-but-forgotten process playing a crucial role in the evolution of fine art photography and photography itself.

Hailing from Canada, ex-pat Alan is the founder of Luminous Lint—a world-wide collaborative effort documenting the entire history of the medium from soup to nuts. With nearly 15,000 visual indexes to date, the website explores the myriad connections between photographs and their growing diaspora.

Family

Spouse and muse Shannon O’Brien, director of editorial & social media at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, continues to inspire my thinking—often within an academic framework—pushing me to reframe and refine photographic scholarship for the ever changing cultural firmament of the now. She spends her spare time reading, hanging with the dogs, practicing Buddhism, and pushing her vegan agenda.

My daughter Anna, who I last commented on for this site in 2012 after she attained her baccalaureate, has now added a masters degree in pursuing her professional journey of social work with an emphasis on the mental health discipline. She employs her considerable artistic talent and empathy to help those navigating an ever complicated world—I’m in awe and admiration of her perseverance.

I was blessed with the ultimate foundation of love and encouragement by my mother and father. Care to learn more? Tributes to their profound influences on this website continually answer the questions for what we do here and why we do it.

With the purpose being enjoyment, scholarship, and study, all photographs and content contained on this site are copyrighted by the artist or their estate and are protected by International & U.S. copyright, trademark, and other laws. All Rights Reserved. Artists survive from their copyright, which represents their creativity. Please respect their rights by not copying or otherwise using their work without their permission.

No part of PhotoSeed, including content found on the site in the form of photographs, graphics and text, may be taken via any third-party digital retrieval system, including artificial intelligence, for monetary gain unless authorized in writing by site owner David Spencer. Sharing site content from this website via social media is certainly encouraged (Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) however, and solely intended for user enjoyment and or scholarship. Please consult PhotoSeed or the copyright owner for exceptions.

David Spencer : inquiries:  admin@photoseed.com

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