Halsey's Rarities

Regular readers of the Society’s Bulletin will already be acquainted with the pioneering work of Tewkesbury photographer, Halsey S.V. Freeman in the nineteen-twenties. Indeed, there are very few images, which remain in Halsey’s collection, that have not graced the Bulletin’s pages. Hence the interest value we hope this new (and possibly final) selection of unpublished ‘rarities’ will have – not only for their own sake, but also for the further insights they may offer into Halsey’s life and times.  

Photographic Artist

As has been remarked upon previously, Halsey deliberately opted for the epithet, photographic artist, in preference to the alternative, near-universal default description of photographer. This was not simply a case of semantics: like many others – including most notably his famous international contemporary, Edward Steichen¹  – he had an absolute conviction that, to achieve any lasting success in the photographic world, he needed, first and foremost, to be perceived as ‘an artist’. Some eighty years on, this may register somewhat pretentiously but, as many of his handcrafted prints – not least the Hogarthian-styled^[2] Photo 1 below – show, he actually can be said to have realised his eponymous calling.

As with Photo 3 later, Photo 1 was taken by delayed shutter release and, even without its Freeman associations, it offers a fascinating character study. For background information, Alice Snr.’s companion, father-of-three, Alfred Swain, had only recently moved into Alice’s home, Tea Tree House in Oldbury Road,^[3]  but stayed with her until his death in 1934. His estate of £410.15s. [£410.75p]^[4] then passed on to Alice’s son, Reg, who subsequently relocated to Gloucester. By this Alice’s youngest son Percy too, had permanently moved away from town – in his case to Leicester – leaving Alice to spend the remainder of her life in the company of her blind daughter, Alice Jnr., pictured in the photo with the guide dog on her lap.

Image Management

To support the aura of exclusiveness that he sought so hard to create, Halsey was always impeccably well turned out. In fact, he had never been anything else but a dapper dresser – as Photo 2 (amongst others) illustrates. In an age when formal attire was much more a society norm than it is now (as evidenced already perhaps by Photo 1) this might hardly rate as exceptional. However, even in his more private pictures – not least, Photo 3 that follows – Halsey exhibits an extraordinary image-consciousness. Implicitly or explicitly, therefore, it seems ‘image management’  was a decision choice he used to differentiate himself from his High Street rivals.^[5]

Family shots were a Halsey specialty – and one of the more interesting characters he ever photographed was his brother-in-law (his wife’s brother) Jesse Macdonald jnr., the subject of Photo 4 [page 36]. Twice-married Jesse worked most of his life at Healings Mill but he is probably best remembered nowadays for having been a conscientious objector during the Great War.

The one family member Halsey most likely photographed more than any other was his son, Neville – who unwittingly became the star of a series of sentimental postcards, in popular demand at the time – see for example Photo 5 [page 36].

The secret of their success, evidently, was the emotional response they invoked on the part of would-be collectors and nowhere are Halsey’s contributions to this now-largely-vanished genre better exemplified perhaps than by Photo 6.

Photo 6: Halsey’s son, Neville outside the family home in Providence Place, Chance Street circa 1928 

Epilogue

Halsey left behind a body of work of extraordinary diversity – as the selection of photographs in this article typifies. Driven by a relentless ambition, he self-consciously strove to create high quality, artistically-inspired images for an upmarket clientele. That they have since become so collectable is a fitting vindication of his vision. Regrettably – like all artists who die before their time – he was never personally able to enjoy the financial success and recognition he so richly deserved. However, through his images, his memory lives on – as rightly befits, in not just a literal sense, Tewkesbury’s foremost photographic artist.

 

References

1. Ewing, William & Brandow, Todd (2007) Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography, Thames & Hudson.
2. http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/hogarth/ [dead link]
3. It was located at the rear of Double Alley in 1910 Land Tax Survey.
4. In 1935, £470.15s.0d. would have the same spending worth of today’s £17,408.34 (National Archives’ Currency Converter)
5. A Framework for Marketing Image Management, Howard Barich , Philip Kotler 
6. Copy provided by professional collector (and my uncle), Mr. Tony Bayliss.
7. ‘Seizing the Photo Opportunity’ , THS Bulletin No.14, 2005, p.6.