NY Public Library's Rosenberg Curator of Exhibitions Barbara Cohen-Stratyner, Ph. D. on Head Shots

BroadwayWorld.com continues our exclusive content series, in collaboration with The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, which delves into the library's unparalleled archives, and resources. Below, check out a piece by Barbara Cohen-Stratyner, Ph. D., Judy R. and Alfred A. Rosenberg Curator of Exhibitions at the Shelby Cullom Davis Museum for The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on head shots!

"Who am I anyway?/ Am I my resume?/ That is a picture of a person I don't know..." Many will recognize those lyrics from "I Hope I Get It," the opening number from A Chorus Line, and immediately think of the iconic image of the cast holding up their head shots (a scene so iconic that it's even parodied in the new musical Something Rotten). Head shots are neutral portraits, not in costume or character, but designed to show the potential of each performer at his/her best. Performers have used portraits to represent their faces, talents and aspiration for casting and promotion almost as long as there has been photography. When reproducible photography was developed in the mid-19th century, performers eagerly adopted the new technology.

The Library for the Performing Arts holds over 1,000,000 headshots in many different formats in its collections. We are featuring 200 of them in the new free exhibition Head Shots: From Daguerreotypes to Digital, now on view at the Vincent Astor Gallery here at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (through August 8, 2015). The exhibition not only showcases these photographic treasures in our collection, but also explores how the entertainment industry has continued to use head shots, paired with resumes, through each new technological development in imaging and printing up from cartes de visites to the digital present day. Whatever the format, head shots have always had very pragmatic aims of employment and publicity.

In the early years of photography, actors and theaters maintained their reliance on prints to provide easily published images -- from "penny plains," to fine engravings. Some adventurous actors experimented with early formats of the new art of photography. America's great Shakespeare actor, Edwin Booth, was an early adopter of photography and new formats.

Large scale adoption of photography waited for the invention of formats with negatives that could be reproduced on order. Fast, on-demand printing was so important for performers that commercial studios that catered to them promoted their ability to store and preserve negatives; the decorative backs of cabinet photographs include the slogan "duplicates can be had at any time." To show their range, actors invested in "street clothes" headshots and portraits in costumes and poses from their signature roles and acquired stocks of small cartes de visites (French for "visiting cards") and cabinet photographs. Competitive studios experimented in processes, such as 3-dimensional stereography; and in formats, combining neutral and character portraits in triptychs. These early versions of head shots could be inscribed and left with managers to request auditions and roles, or with critics, such as Variety's Chicot, or provided to theaters or directly to newspapers as publicity or promotional materials.

The technology of printing also changed radically in the mid- and late 19th century. Since the new formats allowed placement of images and text anywhere on the plates, lay-out became more creative and responsive to the eras' art nouveau or art deco aesthetics. Headshots could be marked and cropped into any shape for inclusion on a page.

Kodak's introduction of standard sized, inexpensive photographic paper in the 1910s made reproduction easier and cheaper. Head shots and performance documentation settled on 8" x 10" paper, which maintained the proportions of the cartes de visite and cabinet photographs. The paper size and texture became so associated with head shots that casting calls frequently asked for "8 x 10s" or "8 x 10 glossies." Many of the photography studio collections at The Library include contact sheets and proofs, which show how performers, with their agents or advisors, choose a studio, plan a shoot of multiple poses and several different outfits, and select the strongest images.

Performers distribute headshots as business cards to remind managements of their "type," looks, contact information, and availability. A variety of formats have been used, including registry cards and resumes with embedded images, but most often, performers provide standard 8 x 10s with resumes. Performers use them to attract agents, who then use the head shots to promote actors to directors, producers or, more recently, casting directors. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' collections of directors/producers' papers include many examples of solicited and unsolicited letters and head shots from performers and agents. They describe production or individual role requirements to agencies, which then recommend one or many performers to be interviewed and auditioned.

The development of Kodachrome in the 1930s made color available for photography, but it was generally reserved for character or costumed portraits. Even when C-print (or C-type print) technology became available in the 1950s and became the norm for promotional photographs, most performers stayed with black and white headshots. Color headshots were standard images, but shot against gel-lit paper to provide a colored background. They grew in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s as periodicals added more color pages. Color finally became the norm in the digital era.

It would be tempting to announce that digital changed everything. Yes, digital cameras have become the norm. But many aspects of headshots have remained intact since the 19th century of Edwin Booth. They still involve performers and professional photographers and are used to facilitate casting and promotion. The photographer still provides images for review.

The major change involves distribution. The images now arrive as an e-mailed file or a DropBox invitation. The performer can circulate them to friends and advisors for help. The selected images can now be distributed directly, posted on a casting site or included on directories or social media. There are still debates on color vs. black and white, studio vs. outdoors, and natural vs. staged poses, but all practitioners and columnists seem to agree: your headshot should not be a selfie.

Photo Credit: Dancers holding their resume photos in front of their faces while performing "I Hope I Get It" in a scene from the Broadway musical A Chorus Line. (New York) Photography by Martha Swope. The Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.