Nichols, Left Field, Pittsburgh, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1889

Curator: Looking at this subdued sepia print, I feel a wave of nostalgia. There is something quietly melancholic and dignified about it. Editor: Indeed. Here we have "Nichols, Left Field, Pittsburgh," produced in 1889 by Goodwin & Company as part of the "Old Judge" series for Old Judge Cigarettes. This photographic print, currently residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, presents us with a portrait of a baseball player, but within a larger framework of commerce and representation. Curator: The subject is composed as an ideal geometric form. Note how Nichols bisects the card vertically. It's further broken up by strong diagonals like that baseball bat he’s holding and even his legs, as his striped socks really guide your eyes down. Editor: And it's not accidental, the strategic use of photography as advertising also says much about the rise of celebrity culture at the end of the nineteenth century. Mass-produced and distributed, these cards simultaneously commodified both baseball and idealized masculinity, inextricably linked to tobacco consumption. Curator: Observe, also, the uniformity of tone. A very subtle gradation from the player himself against a paler background that focuses our attention directly upon Nichols as an object of attention within this formal structure. This monochrome scheme adds such depth to our analysis because while appearing basic, it offers so many different shades within the photo’s geometry. Editor: Exactly! The "Old Judge" series contributed to a specific construction of the athlete—one linked to notions of productivity, virility, and consumerism. Nichols isn't just a player; he's a signifier of values. I wonder, though, about the unacknowledged labor of the mostly anonymous workers involved in tobacco production, which is what makes these collectibles circulate and possible to collect. Curator: Very interesting and worth noting for those interested in art’s broader contextual place, but let’s appreciate his patterned wool uniform—the textural intricacies achieved in capturing its materiality. It’s the synthesis of subject and presentation. Editor: An uncanny synthesis that serves particular, strategic commercial ends that shape the image. However you analyze it, hopefully listeners can appreciate this rare intersection between early baseball memorabilia and visual culture. Curator: I find the convergence quite rewarding indeed!