Stephen A. "Steve" Brady, New York Metropolitans, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

Curator: Here we have an albumen print from 1887. This card features Stephen A. "Steve" Brady, a player for the New York Metropolitans. The card is part of the Old Judge series (N172) produced for Old Judge Cigarettes by Goodwin & Company. Editor: This little snapshot radiates an almost unbearable stoicism. There's a profound and unwavering self-possession emanating from this baseball player. Is that the point? Curator: These baseball cards functioned quite differently from how we perceive them now. Produced as advertisements, they showcase the aesthetics and values popular at the time, blending commerce and culture. They present the idealized masculine image, in line with what a sporting hero would be. Brady's direct gaze and carefully groomed mustache underscore those qualities. Editor: What strikes me is how fragile it feels, the photograph itself. It's almost as if it would crumble with the slightest touch. There is something poetic about how ephemerality enhances the humanity of this sportsman caught between past and present. It also strikes me how exposed he seems, as though all that confidence masks uncertainty. Curator: Well, such cards gained popularity during the pictorialism movement. In photographic practice, photographers would attempt to create an "art photograph", and prints like this one embraced the soft focus of painterly aesthetics. Editor: Yes, I see it now, but that soft focus amplifies that sense of time, like memories half-remembered and softly fading. A dream about baseball! What stories that quiet face must conceal, locked away in time! Curator: Perhaps Goodwin and Co., through this image, tried to offer a window into not just the man, but the aspirations of a burgeoning nation obsessed with baseball. Editor: Perhaps they succeeded. It gives me the urge to start chewing tobacco and start talking loudly about baseball in a saloon while dressed in tweed. This snapshot provides such depth!