The perfection of Martha Graham

MORGAN, Barbara. Martha Graham: Sixteen Dances in Photographs. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Morgan & Morgan, 1980. Oblong 4to.; 168 pp; tan cloth stamped in crimson on cover and spine. In original dust jacket. First revised edition, second printing. Inscribed to Mark Solanger: “For Mark Solanger / Best Wishes / Barbara Morgan / December 1981”. Barbara Morgan taught design and printmaking at UCLA in the 1920s but eventually became convinced that the medium of photography possessed expressionistic qualities that rivaled any graphic art. She and her husband Willard relocated to New York City in 1930, where she fully dedicated her time to the medium. In 1935, Morgan attended one of Martha Graham’s dance performances. She was instantly struck by the historical and artistic importance of the emerging American modern dance embodied by the company. That same day, Morgan went to introduce herself to Graham and the two embarked upon a collaborative relationship that would last over six decades.  The pho