Whitman spoke of people's reaction to this photo, "Some of them say my face there has a rogue in it. O'Connor called it my sea-captain face. Some newspaper got hold of a copy of the photograph and said it bore out the notion that Walt Whitman was a sensualist. I offered one to a woman in Washington. She said she'd rather have a picture that had more love in it. It's a little rough and tumble, but it's not a face I could hate" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Thursday, September 6th, 1888).
For more information on Henry Ulke and Brothers, see "Notes on Whitman's Photographers."
Photographer: Ulke, Henry, 1821–1910
Date: 1871
Technique: photograph
Place: Washington (D.C.)
Subject: Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 | Washington (D.C.)
Creator of master digital image: Ohio Wesleyan University, Bayley Collection
Rights: Public Domain. This image may be reproduced without permission.
Work Type: digital image
Date: ca. 1995–ca. 2000