Ben Pinchot [Raymond Massey]

Ben Pinchot (1890 – 1986), American photographer and author, original silver gelatin print of Canadian-American actor Raymond Massey in the play "Abe Lincoln in Illinois."

Ben Pinchot established his photographic studio in 1927 and immediately made an impression as a new talent among theatrical photographers. After declaring bankruptcy, he moved with his wife, the novelist Ann Pinchot to  the raffish center of jazz and after-hours nightlife in Manhattan. There he fashioned a studio in their apartment and his wife hosted a famous salon where the musicians playing on "Swing Street," actors, and writers consorted.  In 1935 he published with Bridgman Publishers, along with a concurrent London publication by John Lane, a collection of black and white drape shots and nudes entitled, 'Female Form.' 1934 marked the year of his arrival as a force in the market, when he suddenly became an A-list photographer, concentrating on character studies of dancers, actors, and operatic singers, nudes, artistic experiments, and scene shots of plays and operas that interested him. The Pinchots enjoyed a collaborative marriage, with Pinochot contributing images and sometimes prose to Ann's books, particularly 1949's 'Hear This Woman.'  In the late 1930s and early 1940s his portraits of novelists and poets were ubiquitous in American newspapers and magazines.

Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) scored a great triumph on Broadway in Robert E. Sherwood's play Abe Lincoln in Illinois, and he repeated his role in the 1940 film version (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor). Massey again portrayed Lincoln in The Day Lincoln Was Shot on Ford Star Jubilee (1956), and, in a wordless appearance this time, in How the West Was Won (1962). A fellow actor is said to have remarked that Massey wouldn't be satisfied with his Lincoln impersonation until someone assassinated him.

This autographed, vintage Pinchot image is in good condition aside from some slight expected age wear including surface marks, soiling, chipping and moisture damage to its edges. The photographer has signed "Ben Pinchot" on the bottom right hand corner of the mount. The photograph, approximately 10 x 13 inches, has been mounted to a slightly larger piece of thick cork board. The title "Raymond Massie (misspelled) in Abe Lincoln in Illinois" has been written on the mount's verso.