WORKS CITED
“Rediscovering Alice Austen: A New Woman for a Modern World.” American Photo. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://www.americanphotomag.com/rediscovering-alice-austen-new-woman-for-modern-world.
Alice Austen is inspiring because she forged her own path during a time of oppression for women. She explored Staten Island on her bike and she even went on ferries to document immigrants who were in quarantine at the time.
“Her Life | Alice Austen House.” Welcome to the Alice Austen House. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://aliceausten.org/her-life.
At eighteen years, Alice Austen already knew how to properly develop prints and take photos at an experienced and professional level with the help of her Uncle Peter. Fortunately, Austen lived a prosperous life so she was provided with the best equipment at the time.
With Alice’s photographic equipment being as much as fifty pounds, it included different sized cameras, a tripod, a magnesium flash attachment, and glass plates as big as eight by ten inches. Austen carried it everywhere with her so she could always capture scenes.
Jow, Tiffany. “This Pioneering Photographer Captured Same-Sex Love Over a Century Ago.” 11 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy. July 20, 2017. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-pioneering-photographer-captured-same-sex-love-century-ago.
Janice Monger, executive director of the Alice Austen House, said “Alice probably felt she had the freedom to take those photos, because they weren’t necessarily for distribution.” Alice Austen mocked the restrictions that Victorian society put on women. She explored gender roles and her identity. Many articles don’t even mention her relationship with Gertrude Tate, a woman that lived with her (and was assumed to be romantically involved) for almost three centuries.
Twardowski, Kristen. “Reading Alice Austen, Lesbian Photographer.” BOOK RIOT. March 14, 2018. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://bookriot.com/2018/02/12/alice-austen-lesbian-photographer/.
Alice Austen’s photos revolved around many different subjects such as immigrants, lesbians, and upper-middle class people. Many people disapproved of Alice and Gertrude’s relationship however stories like theirs remind us that LGBT individuals existed and came together despite society’s beliefs.
“Alice Austen House.” NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/alice-austen-house/.
This historical site offered us an abundance of sources and information to base the rest of our research on. The site played a 30 min movie on Austen’s life, displayed a variety of model rooms that depict different sections of her life, and showcased an abundance of photo albums and framed photographs.
Novotny, Ann, and Alice Austen. Alices World: The Life and Photography of an American Original, Alice Austen, 1866-1952. Old Greenwich, CT: Chatham Press, 1976.
This work offers a variety of the 8000 photographs that Alice captured throughout her life. The images are accompanied by historical facts/background on the Austen family and era in which the pictures were taken. This background information helps explain the context of the photographs and seeks to explain Austen’s style of photography. She mostly captured, immigrant workers, hard times, unconventional acts and behaviors, uncanny places and faces, her home in Staten Island, the “larky life,” females in sports, females cross-dressing, and the beautiful landscape of the Eastern United States.
Gover, C. Jane. The Positive Image: Women Photographers in Turn of the Century America. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988.
This book talked about forgotten women photographers who shaped how the world viewed the early 1900’s and late 20th century. Women like Alice Austen created a positive experience through photography in a mans world at the time.
“National Trust for Historic Preservation: Return to Home Page.” National Trust Membership Benefits and Giving Levels | National Trust for Historic Preservation. August 01, 2018. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://savingplaces.org/stories/bringing-new-perspectives-into-focus-at-new-yorks-alice-austen-house#.W_-MIi-ZOgQ.
Austen’s father abandoned her and her mother when she was young which led to her resentment for males in the future. A group of her friends formed a club called “the darned club” where they swore off men in their lives. Austen moved into her grandparents place located in Staten Island called Clear Comfort which is where the famous Alice Austen house stands today.
“Alice Austen House.” Olana State Historic Site | Historic Artists’ Homes & Studios. Accessed November 29, 2018. https://artistshomes.org/site/alice-austen-house.
Austen took groundbreaking photographs that explored a number of social issues that we still face such as immigration, feminism, LGBT interests, and urban development. She paved a way for us to see the early 1900’s from a woman’s perspective. Alice Austen also had other hobbies including playing professional tennis, bicycling, gardening, and she was also the first woman on Staten Island to own a car.
Robb, George. Ladies of the Ticker Women and Wall Street from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2017.
Women played a significant role in banking and the stock market during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The author George Robb revealed the many ways that women invested in the economy and approached finances.
