Seated in a bentwood armchair, this formal portrait shows John Emlen Bullock, (1891-1970) the second of four children born to photographer John Griscom Bullock, (1854-1939) one of the founding members of the American Photo-Secession movement and his wife Rebecca Malin Downing Bullock. (1865-1945)

Later in life, John Emlen Bullock became an architect. A short biography appears online at the American Architects and Buildings database resource:

John Emlen Bullock was born in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, the son of John Griscom and Rebecca (Downing) Bullock. After attending Germantown Friends School, he graduated from Central Manual Training School in 1909 and received his B. S. in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1914. Although from 1915 to 1921 Bullock’s listing in the city directories is not interrupted, for part of that time he must have been involved in the first World War. Records from the Archives of the University indicate that in August, 1917, he was serving as a Second Lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps and that by February, 1918 he was a First Lieutenant in the Construction Division of the Quartermaster’s Corps. From 1922 to 1926 Bullock is listed in the city directories with an office at 34 South 17th Street, an address shared by many architectural firms of the time; but in 1926 a notice appeared in the Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders Guide that he had moved his office to 142 Allens Lane, his home address.

Bullock’s specialty, according the the University’s Book of the School was electrical ice manufacturing and automobile manufacturing plants, a sign of some expertise in industrial building and engineering.

print details: inscriptions: verso:

center, in black ink:

 John Emlen Bullock
1906;

lower right corner, in graphite: JGB-22

condition: slight staining to print

provenance: formerly from Annapolis, MD collection.