Getty Museum
John Jacob Niles with Blanche Scroggs, 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
- 5043c42c-f941-4947-ae02-1970a3da7432
Blanche Scroggs (1917-2009), the young woman Doris Ulmann employs to set up an intriguing dynamic with her assistant John Jacob (“Jack”) Niles (1892-1980), was very likely the daughter of a local grocer, Fred Scroggs (1891-1967), and the granddaughter of the legendary "Uncle Luce" Scroggs (1857-1935), donor of the land occupied by the John C. Campbell Folk School. Of the eight portraits Ulmann made of her, four present her alone and at work, either ironing or peeling potatoes. Another series of four, including this image, show her in a close, ambiguous situation with Niles (see also [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/)). The superficial intent, at least, appears to be that Niles, a musician and composer, is working with Scroggs, an accomplished singer, to copy into his notebook the lyrics of folk songs passed down to her. In many instances Ulmann did record Niles, notebook in hand, with local musicians. In this series, however, the interest in folklore has to be read as secondary. The intense gaze held between Scroggs and Niles combined with the close positioning of their bodies imbues this image with a strong sensuality. 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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