For her 1941 publication, Martha Graham: Sixteen Dances in Photographs, Barbara Morgan documented more than 40 pioneers of modern dance. Morgan’s most well-known images from this time are of the highly influential performer and teacher of modern dance, Martha Graham. Beginning in 1935, Morgan photographed many of Graham’s most iconic works, including Lamentation, Letter to the World, and Ekstasis. El Penitente, the creation shown in the present photograph, premiered at Bennington College Theater in 1940 and starred Graham, her future husband Erick Hawkins, and modern dance pioneer Merce Cunningham.

^{Watch a performance of Martha Graham’s ‘El Penitente’ beginning at 29:19. Credit: The Kennedy Center}

Until the 1976 Copyright Act, choreography was not protected by copyright law. The practice of writing down dance choreography was uncommon, and Graham forbade notation of her dances. Morgan's photographs are thus often the only extant primary documents of the choreography, costumes, lighting design, and spirit of the performances. These photographs document not only the technical steps of each dance, but also the relationship of the figures to the stage and each other, the emotional charge between dancers, and both large and small gestures that comprise each dance. Further, they protected the artistic and intellectual property of Graham, who choreographed 36 dances between 1930 and 1956.