White Studio (New York, N.Y.)

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A commercial photographic studio founded by Luther White in New York City in the 1890s, White Studio was first known for its portraiture before venturing into theatrical photography beginning in 1904.

White is credited with the development of flash-pan artificial lighting, which enabled him to cut drastically the time necessary for studio and location photography. By 1904, with the further development of flashlighting, the White Studio began to document theater, opera, music, dance and circus production on assignment from producers and theater owners such as David Belasco, Daniel Frohman, Lee and J.J. Shubert and Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. who wanted to provide visual material for the press. White's methods were considered ideal for creating images suitable for rotogravure reproduction in newspapers. Photographs were often taken from the first balcony or lighting booth at the final dress rehearsal and productions were often re-photographed after major cast changes, providing documentation of replacement actors as well as the original cast. In some cases, set models and costume sketches were also photographed. White Studio soon became the leading entertainment photography studio of its day, providing publicity photographs for performers. The Studio, because of its fine reputation in portraiture, also became involved in fashion photography.

From the description of White Studio theatrical photographs. 1903-1936. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 78683010

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Lillian Gish papers, 1909-1992 The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
creatorOf White Studio (New York, N.Y.). Campus photographs and class reunion photographs, 1925, 1950-1959.
referencedIn Washington Square Park (New York, N.Y.), Washington Square Area, and Campus Buildings Image Collection, 1850-1990 New York University. Archives
referencedIn Heilig Theatre photographs collection, 1888-1929, 1901-1929 Oregon Historical Society Research Library
referencedIn Howard D. Rothschild collection on, Ballets Russes, of Serge Diaghilev: Photographs and scrapbooks, 1909-1975. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
creatorOf White Studio (New York, N.Y.). White Studio theatrical photographs. New York Public Library System, NYPL
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Abbey Players. corporateBody
associatedWith Blake, Eubie, 1883-1983. person
associatedWith Bogart, Humphrey, 1899-1957 person
associatedWith Boland, Mary, 1880-1965 person
associatedWith Brice, Fanny person
associatedWith Burke, Billie, 1885-1970 person
associatedWith Gable, Clark, 1901-1960 person
associatedWith George, Grace person
associatedWith Gish, Lillian, 1893-1993 person
associatedWith Grant, Cary, 1904-1986 person
associatedWith Heilig Theatre (Portland, Or.) corporateBody
associatedWith Howard D. Rothschild, collector. person
associatedWith Mei Lan Feng. corporateBody
associatedWith Miller, Marilyn, 1898-1936 person
associatedWith Moscow State Theatre. corporateBody
associatedWith Moskovskii khudozhestvennyi akademicheskii teatr. corporateBody
associatedWith New York University. corporateBody
associatedWith O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953. person
associatedWith Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976 person
associatedWith Truex, Ernest, 1889-1973 person
associatedWith White, Luther, d. 1936. person
associatedWith Yurka, Blanche person
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York (State)--New York
Subject
Theater
Theater
Actors
Circus
Costume design
Dancing
Fashion photography
Masques
Music-halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.)
Opera
Pageants
Portrait photography
Prohibition
Roof garden theaters
Silent films
Stage lighting
Suffragists
Theater architecture
Theater, French
Theater, German
Theater, Italian
Theaters
Theater, Yiddish
Vaudeville
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

Active 1925

Active 1959

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