Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
The Soviet Union (USSR) formally came into existence on December 30, 1922, after three years of world war and five years of civil war. When this photo was taken, sometime in 1933, the country had existed a little more than ten years. On the back is the following note in Russian: Собрание уполномоченных артели "Кр.... Continue Reading →
This cabinet card came to me from Bath, England, but it has nothing written on it to give us a clue as to its origins. Two women stand protectively behind a third, who is seated in a wheelchair. The three resemble each other so closely that they must be sisters. Posed in a triangle, they... Continue Reading →
When I saw the carte-de-visite above, I wondered if it was a real scene or an elaborate joke. Could they really have sailed on ice? It turns out they could have! The sport is called ice yachting, and that's all I know about it. The guys to the left of the boat are skating and... Continue Reading →
This early cabinet card has no information on it, but we can make a few reasonable assumptions. The cabinet card format was introduced in London in 1863 and in the United States in 1866. The two boys lying on the ground are wearing dark blue hats of the type worn by Union soldiers during the... Continue Reading →
The first thing I noticed about this class photo was how stern all the boys look. That isn't exactly normal for a group of 29 little boys. Then I realized that no one is blinking or fidgeting, which is pretty amazing. Whatever the photographer said to them, it definitely got their attention. Another striking thing about... Continue Reading →
I completely made up the title of this post, so it probably isn't true at all, but it sounds like something you'd hear in an Irish ballad. This cabinet card portrait was made at the Lafayette studio in Dublin, founded by James Lafayette and his three brothers in 1880. Advertising on the back lists medals... Continue Reading →
One hundred and fifty-four years ago this week, seven friends sat for a portrait at Nathaniel L. Merrill's Photographic Gallery in Springfield, Vermont. They look young enough to be in high school, or perhaps recent graduates. The carte-de-visite photo has a revenue stamp on the back, affixed and cancelled by the photographer on December 22,... Continue Reading →
The back of this cabinet card is blank, so I can't say for sure that the sitters are father and daughter, but it's a safe bet. At first I thought he might be wearing a clerical collar, but they always clasp in the back, rather than the front. His suit is simple but well-tailored. Her... Continue Reading →
This carte-de-visite is part of a series called "Costumes de Suisse," published around 1869 by French photographer Adolphe Braun (1812-1877). Braun's studio was in Alsace, France, in the village of Dornach, near the borders with Germany and Switzerland. Each photo in the series presents a young woman in a traditional costume from a particular Swiss... Continue Reading →
On November 18, 1918, Latvia declared independence from the new Soviet government in Russia. In November of this year, Latvians celebrated the centennial of that event. Neighboring Lithuania and Estonia will be celebrating the centennial of their own independence in February 2019. Finland's centennial celebration took place on December 6, 2017. The photo above was... Continue Reading →
When I bought this postcard, I assumed the Juneau Restaurant was in Juneau, Alaska. Naturally, I was wrong. The restaurant was attached to the Hotel Juneau in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The hotel was named for city founder Solomon Juneau, a French-Canadian fortune-seeker who arrived in the area in 1818. (The state capital of Alaska is named... Continue Reading →
This portrait was probably taken in the 1920s (see comment by my dream walden below). The sitters aren't identified. They're dressed identically, but I don't know if their clothing can tell us anything about them. A stamp on the mat below the photo tells us the studio belonged to a photographer named Hanson: The... Continue Reading →
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