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Frame: Excluded
Miscellaneous:
"Mr. Folberg first drew wide attention with "And I Shall Dwell Among Them," a book of historic synagogues of the world. The presence of their congregations was palpable even in sanctuaries that had not been in use for centuries. The landscapes of "In a Desert Land: Photographs of Israel, Egypt, and Jordan," showed what an apt student Mr. Folberg had been when he studied with Ansel Adams. His third book, "Celestial Nights: Visions of an Ancient Land," contained mystical black-and-white photographs of ruins at archaeological sites in the Near East crowned with dazzling arrays of stars. "Travels with Van Gogh and the Impressionists" is another turning point for Neil Folberg: It brings us up sharp with its evocation of another time and another place, and its profound questions about originality, tradition, and the estimation of beauty."

-William Meyers, New York Sun
Description:
The four girls are multiplied to eight by their reflections in the mirror; there seem to be six along the wall and two stretching. The mirror is a regular device in representations of the ballet rehearsal room, and here it lets us see two of the girls in double profile. The girls are obviously posed, but ballerinas are always posed, and each seems comfortable in her position. They wear white tutus with sleeveless bodices and long tulle skirts. Two of the girls have pink ribbons tied in a bow around their waist, with a matching ribbon around their neck, and the other two girls have blue ribbons. Soft light comes from a window above and models their delicate skin and the shapes of their heads, which are defined by hair pulled back tightly into buns. The faces we see are confident, curious, immensely charming; not just pretty, but with personalities, even character.

This is a very pleasing photograph to look at. The eye keeps traveling along the line of girls at the wall, down to the two images of the girl in the foreground, and up to and along the wall again. I have described it at length because it seems Mr. Folberg must have spent a fair amount of time thinking about and executing it. It didn't just happen, but he makes it seem that it might have. I am ready to vote in favor of the picture's pleasure.