F. Holland Day American, 1864-1933

F. Holland Day (b.1864-1933) was a wealthy eccentric and philanthropist from Massachusetts. As a partner in the publishing firm, Copeland and Day, which he founded in 1884, he published exquisite, small edition, handbound volumes of works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his friend Oscar Wilde. Although Copeland and Day published ninety-eight books and periodicals, the publishing firm was never financially successful. In addition to his work as a photographer and publicist, Day pursued his interest in fine art photography through activism, curating exhibitions, and writing opinion pieces about the status of the medium. He amassed one of the largest collections of materials about the life and work of John Keats in the world. 

Day began photographing in 1886, and he wrote extensively about photography as a fine art and organized international photography exhibitions to further his claims. Day’s photographs were controversial for their unconventional depictions of Black individuals, religious subject matters, and the male nudity that he frequently employed. Day’s controversial approach is most notable in his self-portraits as Jesus Christ titled “Seven Words.” For this collection representing the final words of Jesus, Day starved himself, grew out his beard, and photographed himself wearing a crown of thorns. These self-portraits highlight the humanity of Jesus in his last moments through very close up, intimate shots of Day. Day also favored platinum prints which are distinguished due to their fine details and ability to capture and render a full range of soft tones. In 1900, Day created the first exhibition of American pictorialist photography in Europe, The New School of American Photography. In a fire in 1904, Day lost two thousand prints and negatives. The few that survived were sent to the Royal Photographic Society in the 1930s. During World War I, due to the shortage of platinum, printing was expensive and eventually became impossible; Day began to lose interest in photography, and twenty years later, he passed away.