May Moore | |
|---|---|
 Annie May Moore (1881-1931), by unknown photographer, 1900-15 | |
| Born | Annie May Moore 4 January 1881 Wainui,New Zealand |
| Died | 10 June 1931(1931-06-10) (aged 50) Pittwater,New South Wales,Australia |
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| Occupation | Photographer |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Spouse | Henry Hammon Wilkes |
Mina Moore | |
|---|---|
 Minnie Louise Moore (1882-1957), self-portrait | |
| Born | Minnie Louise Moore 6 October 1882 Wainui,New Zealand |
| Died | 30 January 1957(1957-01-30) (aged 74) Croydon,Victoria,Australia |
| Occupation | Photographer |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Spouse | William Tainsh |
May and Mina Moore were New Zealand-born photographers who made careers as professional photographers, first inWellington, New Zealand, and later inSydney andMelbourne, Australia.[1] They are known for theirRembrandt-styleportrait photography, and their subjects included famous artists, musicians, and writers of the era.[2][3]
Annie May Moore (known as May) was born inWainui, New Zealand, on 4 January 1881, andMinnie Louise Moore (known as Mina) was born the following year, on 6 October 1882. Their mother, Sarah Jane née Hellyer, was born in New Zealand, while their father, Robert Walter Moore, originally came from England. He was a farmer andsawyer.[2]
May's talent for art was evident from early girlhood, and her mother encouraged her to study at theElam School of Fine Arts inAuckland, New Zealand.[3][4] Sometime in 1906 – 07, May began to earn money from her work, selling ink and pencil sketches at the New ZealandInternational Exhibition (1906) inChristchurch.[2]
Mina, then a schoolteacher, began working with photography around 1907. Not long afterwards, the sisters decided to go into business as photographers, and they bought a studio in Wellington they called Rembrandt Studios and in 1908 they advertised photography and sketch work.[2][4] Since they did not know how to run a photography studio, the sisters initially kept on the staff, who trained May in camera operations and Mina in printing.[3]
The sisters gained a solid reputation around Wellington within a short time. They became known for close-up, side-lit portraits shot against a plain background, and they worked with bothsepia toning andbromide paper.[2][4]
Their services were sought after by visiting performers such asLily Brayton and New Zealand performers likeMākereti Papakura.[4]
After only a few years, the sisters moved their business to Australia, running separate studios in Sydney (1910–28) and Melbourne (1913–1918). May in Sydney continued to focus on studio portraits, while Mina in Melbourne moved into theatrical photography and portraits of interview subjects. Nonetheless, they continued to often cosign the work produced by their respective studios. Their photographs were frequently published in magazines such asHome andTriad.[2]
Their styles were very consistent, and they used dramatic lighting to get the effect of making the subject's face the centre of attention.[5]
In 1910, May took a holiday trip to Australia that resulted in her opening a new studio in Sydney. One of May's notable images from the Sydney period was a portrait of cartoonistLivingston Hopkins.
May began writing articles for theAustral-Briton in 1916. In articles like "Photography for Women", she encouraged more women to take up the medium. Her advocacy extended to her own business, where she mostly employed women.[3] One exception to this rule was her husband, Henry Hammon Wilkes, a dentist whom she married on 13 July 1915 and who gave up his dental practice to help his wife with her photography business.[2]
May was a member of theLyceum Club, the Musical Association of New South Wales, the Society of Women Painters (Sydney), and the Professional Photographers' Association of Australia.[2]
Around 1928, May was forced into retirement by illness and turned her creative energies to painting landscapes. She died ofcancer in herPittwater home on 10 June 1931; her remains are at the Manly Cemetery. Six months after her death the Lyceum Club mounted a memorial exhibition of her work.[2]
In 1913, Mina joined May in Australia, setting up shop in the Auditorium Building onCollins Street in downtownMelbourne and specializing in theatrical photography.[1] Mina also formed an alliance with a freelance journalist, agreeing to photograph whomever the journalist planned to interview. These images were typically taken during the interview itself, affording a better opportunity to capture a subject's natural expressions.[2]
Mina marriedWilliam Alexander Tainsh on 20 December 1916. When their daughter was born in 1918, Mina retired from professional photography. Her Auditorium Building studio was taken over by photographerRuth Hollick. She came out of retirement briefly in 1927, whenShell commissioned her to do a series of portraits. At that point she was working out of a home darkroom and caring for an expanded family, so after the Shell series she decided against restarting her photography business.[2][3]
Mina died inCroydon, Victoria on 30 January 1957. Her remains were cremated.[2]
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