Male/female

In this black and white photograph taken in 1958, Steve Rumsey has created an image of visual opposites to demonstrate a theme of the differences between men and women. The photograph features Marie McMahon, a well-known craft shop owner and bohemian. The suited shoulder next to her belongs to the male, but his face is not visible and there is no clue to his identity. The image was taken at a party hosted by photographer Theo Schoon at his home at 12 Home Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland.

Ideas and images
Male/female declares its theme in the title, and was one of a series of images created in the period 1948 to 1964 in which Rumsey explored the visual representation of themes or ideas. There were twenty-five of these themes, including City, Creativity, and Atomic Energy. Quite often these photographs featured well-known artists that Rumsey was socialising with, or had met in his professional activities as a scientific and advertising photographer. Examples of similar photographs in the Te Papa collection include Man and atom (Barry Brickell) (1957), in which Barry Brickell's night kiln firing becomes an occasion for exploring the atomic present; and Decisive moment (1962), in which Len Castle in action on his potter's wheel becomes a reflection on the creative process.

Framed
This photographic print is still mounted on the original Venetian red matt that Rumsey used when presenting his work at camera club meetings. The red provided a bold contrast with the black, grey, and white tones of his photographs, and gave Rumsey the ability to emphasise and alter the formal elements of the composition. In Male/female, the red vertical element contributes to the perception that the image is composed of three vertical areas - the red matt, the man's shoulder and white space, and the grey tones of Marie McMahon.