Thru the Back Window
Although dated (19) 24′ on the mount, Thru the Back Window most likely dates to late 1922 or early 1923 as it won second honorable mention earlier in a monthly camera contest sponsored by the arts magazine Shadowland. (Expressing the Arts) It was published with other winners, including one by Margaret Watkins, in the May, 1923 issue. (p. 64) The subject, a snowy, early evening view showing the backs of buildings including the glowing window of one at center of the frame, was very possibly taken from the vantage point of the photographer’s own residence listed on the photograph as 338 W. 22nd St. in New York City.
The 1924 volume of the photographic journal Photo-Era singled the work out and its’ creator:
Charles A. Hellmuth, a comparative newcomer in Bromoil, though a pictorialist of long standing, has in “Through the Back Window” one of the finest examples of beautifying the commonplace it has been our good fortune to witness in some time. (p. 307)
