Mary Electa Allen (1858–1941) was an American photographer and co-founder of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework. She worked alongside her sister as a photographer from 1885 until 1920 capturing the life and landscape of Old Deerfield, among other subjects and paid commissions.
Her work was critical for the Deerfield Arts and Crafts movement which began in the late 19th century. She captured the life and work of the artists and craftspeople, wrote extensively about the movement's progress, and illustrated their work through photographs in magazine articles.
Early life and education
Allen was one of four children born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, to Josiah Allen, a prosperous farmer, and his wife Mary.
She began studying at the Deerfield Academy with her sister, Frances Stebbins Allen, where they first had the opportunity to progress socially, intellectually, and artistically. In 1874, the sisters joined a two-year program at the State Normal School teacher's college, now known as Westfield State University, in Westfield, Massachusetts. The sisters commenced teaching following completion of their program in 1876, but had to eventually quit in 1886 due to significant hearing loss. The cause of this debility is not known, but it is believed to have been a hereditary problem. Neither of the sisters had experienced any major problems until they were in their late twenties and early thirties. Their hearing was examined by the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1893; while Frances's ailment was declared incurable, Mary underwent an unsuccessful ear surgery.
Photography and career
Mary and Frances Allen were first introduced to photography by their brother, Edmund Allen. He was a civil engineer who had to take photographs for his job. They began photographing the life around them in mid-1880s as they were leaving the teaching profession. Their early photographs include cover their family, neighbors and the surrounding fields, farms, and houses in Deerfield. The first record of their photographs can be found from 1884, while they were working as teachers. At this point, they were using a view camera to produce albumen prints.
They gained considerable recognition in 1900 when their photography was featured in the Universal Exposition in Paris. In 1901, they gained popularity when they were called two of 'the Foremost Women Photographers in America' by a famous photographer and critic, Frances Benjamin Johnston, in the Ladies Home Journal's July issue.
Using this newfound popularity as a stepping stone, Mary and Frances converted their home in to a working photography studio in 1901. The darkroom was set up in the upstairs bedroom and the parlor below served as a salesroom. From this home-built studio, they published and sold their catalogs of photography from 1904 until 1920, when Frances lost her eyesight. Mary continued working and living with her sister. Even though they stopped taking new photographs in 1920 when they published their last catalog, they continued to sell the prints until 1935.
Mary often categorized their work as 'art' and 'craft'. She called it 'art' because their photographs were a form of their creative expression. They continually captured the world they lived in as they saw it using their unique and inspired techniques to show it to the world. She called it 'craft' because they were frequently commissioned for portrait photography and to provide illustrations for various subjects in magazine articles. Their photographs included four primary themes:
The life of children
Natural scenery
The Deerfield Arts and Crafts movement
Models of colonial life
The photographs taken by the sisters was a reflection of their interest in the town's colonial history. In 'Blue and White Needlework', The House Beautiful, volume III, April 1898, Mary wrote:
"Deerfield, Massachusetts, has long been known to the student of history as an interesting link between the past and the present. Belonging to both periods, and to neither entirely, the transition from old to new can be traced almost continuously. The latest development, the Deerfield Society of Blue-and-White Needlework, is a curious example of this continuity."
They never made substantial money through selling prints and catalogs; however, they still managed to travel to Britain in 1908, and the Grand Canyon and Yosemite in 1916. Mary even had the opportunity to be present for President William McKinley's second inauguration in 1901 at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C.
The sisters were often collectively referred to as 'the Misses Allen'.
