![[Anne May Hensley, Brasstown, North Carolina]](/api/proxy-image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.getty.edu%2Fiiif%2Fimage%2Fc8d9140b-00cd-4968-a75d-6d95f069e287%2Ffull%2F808%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg)
Getty Museum
[Anne May Hensley, Brasstown, North Carolina]
Creator
Doris UlmannAmerican Photographer · 1882–1934
All works by this person →A New Yorker by birth, Doris Ulmann preserved the rural cultures of the southeastern United States through her photographs. She worked particularly in the "Southern Highlands" of the Appalachian Mountains, creating portraits of the residents. In 1933, she contributed photographs to *Roll, Jordan, Roll*, a book by novelist Julia Peterkin about the vanishing black culture, known as Gullah, of the So
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1933–1934
- Medium
- Platinum print
- Culture
- American
- Department
- Photographs
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- 0622e63e-7d43-4f3d-9681-4eedc80a470b
The image of the professional laundress, with overtones of the possibly illicit conduct of working women, was exploited in the nineteenth century by the artist Edgar Degas (1834-1917) and illustrators of the popular press. Doris Ulmann's ironer does recall an Impressionist pose, and the setting, which appears to be the same as that used in the compositions with her assistant John Jacob (“Jack”) Niles (1892-1980) and Blanche Scroggs (1917-2009) ([87.XM.89.3](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/62287/doris-ulmann-john-jacob-niles-with-blanche-scroggs-brasstown-north-carolina-american-about-1933-1934/) and [87.XM.89.4](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/62288/doris-ulmann-john-jacob-niles-with-blanche-scroggs-brasstown-north-carolina-american-about-1933-1934/)), creates an enigmatic atmosphere. Anne May Hensley (1915-2003) was the sister of Hayden Hensley, who also sat for photographs by Ulmann (link to 87.XM.89.127). Adapted from Judith Keller. *Doris Ulmann*, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996), 86. ©1996, J. Paul Getty Trust.
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