Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
This cabinet card portrait was made at a studio in the port city of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The studio belonged to a man named John O'Neil. Google didn't turn up any information about Mr. O'Neil, so I looked at census records on Ancestry. In the 1880 U.S. Census, I found a John E. O'Neil, age... Continue Reading →
This postcard appears to show a group of international students at the University of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Perhaps they were members of a club or student association? I was hoping to identify some of them, but so far no luck. A few are old enough to be graduate students, or possibly faculty... Continue Reading →
This photograph was taken in southeastern Sweden. The photographer, G.M. Svendsen, was based in the town of Tingsryd. The photo was for sale on eBay in North Carolina. I wish I knew how it ended up there! The railway in the photo is the Nättraby-Alnaryd-Elmeboda Järnväg (järnväg = railway). The NAEJ (or NAÄJ) was... Continue Reading →
This boudoir card photograph came to me from Maine. The boudoir card format appeared in the mid-1880s as a slightly larger and more expensive alternative to cabinet cards. The larger size was particularly suitable for group portraits.* This one was taken in the town of Pirmasens, Germany, near the border with France. The studio belonged... Continue Reading →
This undated cabinet card portrait was taken in the ancient shipping town of Gravesend, Kent, England. Gravesend is on the south bank of the Thames Estuary, about 21 miles (35 km) from central London. The photograph was taken at the studio of Frederick Charles Gould, who became known for images he captured of the many... Continue Reading →
This cabinet card portrait was taken at the studio of F.B. Walcott in the town of Berlin, Wisconsin. The back of the card has a logo with F.B. Walcott, successors to S.M. Taylor printed under it. I've cropped and enlarged the logo, below, to make it legible. The green background is unusual: (You can see... Continue Reading →
I bought this photograph from a neighbor when she had a yard sale. I asked if she knew anything about it, and she replied that she had bought it many years earlier from another neighbor across the street. That neighbor had had a shop nearby which sold old books and antiques. We both agreed that... Continue Reading →
This photograph was in a collection of materials dating to the years just before, during and after the First World War. Printed on plain paper larger than a postcard, my guess would be that it was taken after the war. On the back is a brief inscription in German: "Rumän. Bäuerinnen i. Sonntagsgewand" (Romanian countrywomen... Continue Reading →
The group above must have participated in a festival or celebration of some kind. The people in the group are wearing a variety of different outfits. The photo came from an estate in Texas, with no information about where it was taken or when. The back is blank. [Note: this post has been updated with... Continue Reading →
This photograph came to me a few years ago from Scotland (Clydebank, near Glasgow). The print is mounted on stiff paper, which has nothing written or stamped on it to identify the group, the location or the photographer. Since all the members of the group are adults, I don't think this is an extended... Continue Reading →
The young man in this carte-de-visite portrait is wearing a military-style tunic with an "F" on the collar. The photograph was taken at the studio of Fredrique Holmstedt in Vadstena, Sweden. I had difficulty finding information online about Fredrique. Unable to read the handwritten dedication in Swedish in the upper left corner, I turned to... Continue Reading →
I had hoped to identify the dignified woman who sat for this portrait at the Bombay Photographic Company in the late 1880s or 1890s, but so far I haven't had any luck. The photographer, S. Hormusji, is also a bit of a mystery, at least as far as online sources go. Some examples of his... Continue Reading →
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