When we think of Victorian women, we don't immediately picture them laughing together, hugging, smoking cigarettes, or living freely. But thanks to one prolific female photographer of the era, we have a glimpse into this perhaps hidden, yet nonetheless very real, world.
Alice Austen: A Photographer Way Ahead of Her Time.
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Elizabeth Alice Austen, born in 1866 to a wealthy family on Staten Island and known as Alice Austen in adulthood, was fascinated by photography from the age of 10. Her wealth allowed her to pursue this passion. And she pursued it with exceptional meticulousness, whether it was keeping meticulous notes, experimenting with exposure and light, or developing photographs in a darkroom built for her by her uncle, who introduced her to photography.
Austin carried up to 5 pounds of camera equipment around Manhattan on her bicycle, taking countless photographs of working-class neighborhoods. Craftsmen, laborers, and immigrants… a completely different social circle than the one she grew up in, and one that could easily be overlooked.
Yet, it was one particular group of people who ultimately became her true legacy.
Throughout her life, Austen captured thousands of Victorian women openly living their lives and enjoying them in ways that society at the time would have considered unacceptable. This included intimate relationships, "marriages" to each other, cross-dressing, and, most scandalously, riding bicycles!
<img alt='Two people lying on the sofa., Alice Austen. Google Arts & Culture' loading=’lazy» width=»960″ height=»745″ decoding=»async» data-nimg=»1″ class=»rounded-lg» style=»color:transparent» src=»https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/vuHg.U8rrEzPAY0hsx6YDw—/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MD toPTc0NTtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/upworthy_219/daf98699aef278c849e13d869532d37f"> Two people are lying on the sofa. Alice Austin. Google Arts & Culture'Club of the Damned, Alice Austen. Google Arts & Culture' loading=’lazy» width=»960″ height=»756″ decoding=»async» data-nimg=»1″ class=»rounded-lg» style=»color:transparent» src=»https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/T2xAFPgozwJKP0MgtJAgtg—/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MD toPTc1NjtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/upworthy_219/e94efed47d3832f0dc90c95458a10042″> «Club of the Damned» , Alice Austin. Google Arts & Culture'Julia Martin, Julia Bredt and herself in dress, sitting, Alice Austen. Google Arts & Culture' loading=’lazy» width=»960″ height=»744″ decoding=»async» data-nimg=»1″ class=»rounded-lg» style=»color:transparent» src=»https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/OlPTbxXlCNLkeTtl4GAVhg—/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MD toPTc0NDtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/upworthy_219/da0a862f223a9fa8d72d0f98b4e10e22″> Julia Martin, Julia Bredt and herself in a smart suit, sitting , Alice Austin. Google Arts & Culture'Tude & I Masked, Short Skirts, Alice Austen. Google Arts & Culture' loading=’lazy» width=»960″ height=»767″ decoding=»async» data-nimg=»1″ class=»rounded-lg» style=»color:transparent» src=»https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/EeXvgcSJbmc4eqjHdIfqpQ—/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MD toPTc2NztjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/upworthy_219/f5a9be535b36d7ddb57290e894b6ff78″> Tude & I in masks, short skirts , Alice Austin. Google Arts & Culture <img
Clearly, Austen didn't create this collection simply out of curiosity. She spent 55 years in a devoted, loving relationship with a teacher named Gertrude Tate, 30 of which they lived together in Austen's home, dubbed "Clear Comfort.".
A love story shaped by circumstances.
Tragically, fate and convention eventually separated these two. The stock market crash of 1929 wiped out most of Austen's fortune. She and Tate were evicted from their home in Clear Comfort, forcing them to return to their families, who disapproved of their relationship. Although they saw each other weekly, things never returned to normal. And despite their pleas, they were buried separately.
<img alt='Гертруда Тейт, 1899 год, в поместье Твайлайт Рест в Катскиллских горах; Из альбома Алисы Остин, созданного для Гертруды, с их первой встречи. Google Arts & Culture' loading=’lazy» width=»960″ height=»752″ decoding=»async» data-nimg=»1″ class=»rounded-lg» style=»color:transparent» src=»https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Ky4XFkksRg1i8ZOgH0EN6g—/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MD toPTc1MjtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/upworthy_219/af7a256efa258b727a14d5cd2d0cce3e"> Gertrude Tate, 1899, 'Twilight Repose in the Catskills'; from Alice Austen's sketchbook, created for Gertrude at their first meeting. Google Arts and Culture
This is one of the many reasons why LGBTQ+ rights advocates have fought for the recognition of Jane Austen's queer identity, as it undoubtedly plays a key role in her photographic work. Through her images, we see that even in times when the world forbade it, people found ways to be themselves.
Today, Clear Comfort is a "nationally significant LGBTQ+ history site" and a museum displaying photographs of the writer. It also hosts LGBTQ+ karaoke nights, arm wrestling competitions, and lesbian gatherings—all of which would undoubtedly have pleased Austin.
And on the official website dedicated to her work, Austin is rightly described as someone with "a natural flair for photojournalism that developed some 40 years before the word was coined" and as "an artist with a strong aesthetic sense and a single-minded eye.".
More than a century later, Austen's photographs still seem alive because the emotions they convey remain instantly recognizable. Friendship, affection, humor, desire, self-expression… these moments endure long after the social rules designed to suppress them have disappeared. Her works offer a more complete picture of Victorian life, far more humane than we imagined as children.
The article "One Female Photographer Took 7,000 Photos of Victorian Women Who Look Incredibly Modern" first appeared on Upworthy. .