The key to understanding Conlon is that nearly all of his work was done on assignment—he was always shooting what Spalding’s Guide wanted and very rarely what interested him as a photographer. There were a series of photographic essays, however, that explored the aging ‘batting eyes’ of his subjects, and the batting grips of leading sluggers and the differences in the hands of catchers, infielders, and outfielders. The eyes and hands, in particular, were very innovative portraits, and I thought it was important for viewers to see those prints and what Conlon was trying to achieve with that portraiture.
Other sections explore action photography—Conlon employed a few tricks and would, for example, try to capture a bat’s movement as it slows down near the end of a swing—and Conlon’s relationships with Mathewson, McGraw, and others, which set him apart from other photographers.
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