The year was 1915, and by chance, a great gentleman, Alderman O'Rourke, happened by our studio window front on
Lenox avenue one Wednesday a little past noon, and inquired about our services and ability to capture photographs of prominent event goers at a function uptown at the swanky
Hotel Algonquin. After settling the amount for the portraits, And the alderman gone, my studio partner and I marveled at the opportunity to venture uptown, and make photographs,..after all, this isn't Harlem. So when the day arrived, we grabbed our
Kodak Autographic's and our Ansco Lamps, and headed towards Gotham. Once we arrived, we headed into the hotel via the wine cellar, near the horses. While setting up, I noticed two cabaret dancers practicing as for they were the entertainment, accompanying the orchestra as they play their symphonies. Very fleet and elegant they were, we were mesmerized by the fluidity of their dance. The madam yelled out to me, "make our photograph!!", and the gentleman dancer smiled. We felt compelled. What an opportunity. but had we brought enough 120 film to make photographs of the socialites, and the dancers? I didn't care, even though we had plenty, the moment could not escape us. The
Pictorialists would not be happy with us, but it was a new day, and as a believer in the modernist movement, this could be my contribution to our new art form. it was a grand night, I remember it well. We never got the names of the two cabaret dancers,..but instead we captured their time, for all time.
