Paul Cadmus and Margaret French, Fire Island

PaJaMa

1940s · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

In 1937, Paul Cadmus, Jared French, and Margaret French combined the first two letters of their respective first names to create the title of their photographic collective. As PaJaMa, the trio staged and photographed evocative nude and seminude figurative tableaus that appear frozen in time, often with the sandy dunes of Fire Island as their setting. Here, Cadmus, wearing a tattered shirt, lies on the beach, seemingly asleep, while Margaret French, holding an umbrella, peers up and over a dune to gaze upon him, perhaps a visualization of his dream. This photograph is part of a group of PaJaMa photographs that New York City Ballet co-founder Lincoln Kirstein, who married Cadmus’s sister, Fidelma, gave to the Museum in 1985.

Artist

PaJaMa

Date

1940s

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1985