T. O'Conor Sloane Jr.
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Thomas O’Conor Sloane, Jr. (1879–1963) was an American photographer.


Early life and career

Sloane was born in 1879 in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
but spent much of his adult life in
South Orange South Orange is a historic suburban village located in Essex County, New Jersey. It was formally known as the Township of South Orange Village from October 1978 until April 25, 2024. As of the 2020 United States census, the village populatio ...
,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. Sloane was already photographing by the summer of 1894, when he photographically documented a week-long cruise with his father on a sloop yacht on
Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...
. Pictures of this trip survive in an album he compiled that is now at the
Mystic Seaport Museum Mystic Seaport Museum (founded as Marine Historical Association) is a maritime museum in Mystic, Connecticut, and the largest in the United States. Its site holds a collection of ships and boats and a re-creation of a 19th-century seaport vill ...
, Mystic,
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
. Sloane was most active as a naturalistic photographer at the turn of the twentieth century, garnering acclaim for his
gum bichromate Gum printing is a way of making photographic reproductions without the use of silver halides. The process uses salts of dichromate in common with a number of other related processes such as sun printing. Gum prints tend to be multi-layered im ...
work. In Sloane's early twenties, he focused primarily on portraiture, becoming a professional sometime thereafter and remaining active until the 1940s, when a diving accident severely impaired his eyesight. Sloane experimented with gum bichromate, platinum, pigment, gaslight and gelatin silver prints and various lenses. Sloane graduated from
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
with a degree in
electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
like his father, Dr. T. O'Conor Sloane, a noted scientist, prodigious author of scientific books and articles, and the editor of ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'' and ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...
''. Sloane briefly taught electrical engineering and was a research assistant at Columbia, also working independently as an electrical engineer, before becoming a professional photographer.


Photo-Secession movement

Sloane began exhibiting with
Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (; January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was k ...
'
(''Portrait of Thomas O'Conor Sloane Jr'' by Stieglitz, c. early 1900s)
cadre of artistic amateur photographers at
The Camera Club of New York The Camera Club of New York was founded in 1884 as a photography club. Though the Club was created by well-to-do "gentlemen" photography enthusiasts seeking a refuge from the mass popularization of the medium in the 1880s, it accepted its firs ...
and in 1902 was an original member of the influential
Photo-Secession The Photo-Secession was an early 20th century movement that promoted photography as a fine art in general and photographic pictorialism in particular. A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F. Holland Day in the early 20th centur ...
movement, with his work appearing in that year's
National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'', to "stimulate, foster, and promote publi ...
exhibition. Sloane maintained a long friendship with fellow Photo-Secessionist and West Redding, Connecticut resident, photographer
Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (; March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator and a pioneer of fashion photography. His gown images for the magazine ''Art et Décoration'' in 1911 were the first modern ...
.


Exhibitions and publications

In addition to exhibitions in New York City, Sloane's photographs were exhibited in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
in 1900,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1901 and
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in 1902. Sloane's photographs appeared in ''Photo Beacon'' (June 1900), ''
Camera Notes ''Camera Notes'' was a photographic journal published by the Camera Club of New York from 1897 to 1903. It was edited for most of that time by photographer Alfred Stieglitz and was considered the most significant American photography journal of ...
'' (October 1900), ''Photographic Times'' (November 1900 and January 1904), ''The American Annual of Photography'' (1901) and ''
Camera Work ''Camera Work'' was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It presented high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world. The goal of the journal was to establi ...
, No. 3'' (July 1903). An article he wrote, "Photography as a Craft," appeared in the January 1920 edition of ''The Photo-Miniature''. By 1931 Sloane had relocated to Westport, Connecticut where in 1935 he was commissioned by the Westport Preservation Alliance (WPA) Federal Arts Project to photograph the historic houses of Westport and environs. His photos were black and white using glass plate negatives. A gum print that he created during this time was shown at the Connecticut Tercentenary exhibition in
New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
.


Museums and collections

Sloane's photographic work can be found in art auctions, public and private collections, exhibitions, university archives and museums across the nation, including four pieces in the
Hallmark Photographic Collection The Hallmark Photographic Collection was amassed by Hallmark Cards, Inc. and donated to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri in December 2005. At the time of donation, the collection consisted of 6,500 images by 900 artists, wit ...
, now held by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
; nine pieces in the collection of the
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, in
Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

ntitled: man harvesting">[Untitled: man harvesting
/nowiki>(c. 1900) in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art">ntitled: man harvesting
/nowiki>">ntitled: man harvesting">[Untitled: man harvesting
/nowiki>(c. 1900) in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minneapolis, Minnesota; ''New York City Construction Site'' (c. 1900) in the collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin;
Tree Study
' (c. 1905) in the
Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art is an art museum in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The museum was originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was formerly located ...
in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

''Landscape with Trees''
(c. 1905) in the collection of the
Saint Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is an art museum located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from around the world, its three-story building stands in Forest Park in ...
in
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
, Missouri
''Cloud Study''
(c. 1910) in the collection of
The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...
in New York City, New York; an
''Thomas Alva Edison''
(c. 1914) in the collection of the
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...
of
The Smithsonian The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, education and research centers, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trus ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...


Family

Sloane married Gertrude Gabrielle Larned (October 4, 1878 - January 17, 1954) of
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, an author best known for the children's book ''Fun with Folk Tales: Six Plays in Verse with Music and Songs'' (
E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 1, ...
, 1942). Together they had four children, including T. O'Conor Sloane III, a senior editor at
Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...
. She died on January 17, 1954 in Norwalk, Connecticut. Sloane's brother,
John Eyre Sloane John Eyre Sloane (September 16, 1886 – July 17, 1970) was an American industrialist. He was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to well-known scientist, inventor and author, Dr. T. O'Conor Sloane. He established one of the country's first air ...
, a Columbia graduate and an airplane factory owner, married
Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...
's daughter Madeleine. Sloane's great-grandson is Justin T. O'Conor Sloane, an author, publisher and the editor of ''Worlds of IF'' magazine and ''
Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...
'' magazine.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sloane, T. O'Conor 1879 births 1963 deaths American photographers