Unknown children

© estate of Marcus Adams / Camera Press

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Unknown children

by Marcus Adams
gelatin silver print, mid 1910s
4 5/8 in. x 4 3/8 in. (116 mm x 112 mm) overall
Purchased, 2015
Photographs Collection
NPG x199435

Artistback to top

  • Marcus Adams (1875-1959), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 154 portraits, Sitter in 33 portraits.

This portraitback to top

A work of understated beauty, Adams’s portrait is notable for its carefully considered use of light and composition. The unusual juxtaposition of the girls’ faces invites curiosity about their relationship, while the light draws attention to details such as the sheen of the delicately tied satin bow, or the curl of hair resting on the intricate lace dress – a thread that symbolically connects the two young women in this image. Adams was a renowned photographer of children, taking the first official photograph of Queen Elizabeth II in 1926.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 2 Read entry

    A work of understated beauty, this portrait by Marcus Adams (1875-1959) is notable for its carefully considered use of light and composition. The unusual juxtaposition of the girls’ faces presents them as equals, while the light draws attention to details such as the sheen of the delicately tied satin bow, or the curl of hair resting on the intricate lace dress - a thread that symbolically connects the two young sitters in this image. Adams was a renowned photographer of children, taking the first official photograph of the future Queen Elizabeth II in 1926.

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Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1913back to top

Current affairs

The Suffragette, Emily Davison dies after stepping out in front of the King's horse as a protest at the Epsom Derby. In the same year the Liberal government passed the Cat and Mouse Act allowing them to release and re-arrest Suffragettes who went on hunger strike while in prison. Davison, herself, had been on hunger strike and was force-fed while detained at Holloway Prison.

Art and science

Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring comes to London following its premier at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Audiences were shocked by Stravinsky's rhythmic and dissonant musical score and by the violent jerky dancing of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, which were intended to represent pagan ritual.

International

Henry Ford introduces the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company, rapidly increasing the rate at which the famous Model T could be manufactured, leading to massive growth in the motorcar industry and demonstrating to other industries the efficiency of mass production.

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