The Command to Look: The Nudes of William Mortensen

The Command to Look: the Nudes of William Mortensen considers the use of the female form by William Herbert Mortensen (American, 1897-1965), who during his life was a prominent pictorialist photographer, writer, and teacher. The aim of this thesis is to better understand Mortensen's work through an examination of his most prominent subject matter -- the nude. This study focuses on 43 prints and negatives from the permanent collection of the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. Mortensen was chosen because he and his work represent a period in history of American photography that is given relatively little attention.