Editorial comment for this plate:

IN THE HARVEST FIELD.

The figure picture which adorns this number of THE TIMES is from a negative by Miss E. J. Farnsworth, an enthusiastic lady amateur photographer of unusual skill. Her art feeling is exhibited in this picture. The composition is very pleasing, reminding one strongly of Mr. H. P. Robinson’s work.

It suggests “The Merry Tale” by that renowned photographer, though it is in no sense an imitation of it. The technical part of the picture has been well done, and the reproduction by the Photogravure Co. is all that could be desired. We shall hope to show our readers another example of Miss Farnsworth’s artistic work.

In the Harvest Field shows four models arranged as a Tableau vivant in a pumpkin and cornfield. A “living picture”, or “Tableau vivant”, the French term describing it, shows up occasionally in early examples of artistic photography. Think freeze modeling in an outdoor setting. The practice borrows from painting, of which we know early artistic photographers were fond of emulating. Emma Justine Farnsworth, (1860-1952) considered one of the top woman amateurs in the U.S., did a series of photographs using her neighbors around Albany, New York sometime around 1890. “In the Harvest Field” shows four models artfully arranged in a Tableau vivant, with the model in striped shirt at far right also appearing in Farnsworth’s later published work on this site titled “On the Fence.”