Thomas Eakins purchased photographs during
his Parisian student days, but apparently he did not begin
taking them himself until the early 1880s. He used an
American Optical Company Scovill 4" x 5" View Camera with
various lenses. His subjects included his family, friends and
pupils. He also worked on motion photography with Eadweard
Muybridge and others. Possibly in the spring of 1887, Eakins
was introduced to Walt Whitman by Talcott Williams, and the
portrait he painted in 1887‑88 of the famous poet was
Whitman's favorite. Eakins first photographed Whitman that
spring and continued to do so until shortly before the poet's
death in March of 1892. The photograph illustrated (see p. ?)
is one of the last pictures taken of Whitman and reflects the
use of the medium as a sketch for a studio painting.
A painter, sculptor and photographer,
Eakins was born July 25, 1844, in Philadelphia. He studied at
the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1862 to 1866 and
later returned to teach there. He also studied anatomy at
Jefferson Medical College and drawing, painting and sculpture in
Paris from 1866 to 1869. After some early failures, in the
1890s his work was exhibited, purchased and awarded with
increasing frequency. Eakins concentrated chiefly on portraiture
throughout his career, though few of his portraits were actually
commissioned. He was elected a full Academician of the National
Academy of Design in 1902. Eakins died in 1916, and memorial
exhibitions were held at the Metropolitan Museum and at the
Pennsylvania Academy.
