Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
This carte-de-visite photo has no information on it about who took it or where. I found it in Massachusetts, but assume it must have originated in Europe. In the 1860s and 1870s, European photographers began employing young people from their communities to dress in national costumes and pose against studio backdrops designed to represent local... Continue Reading →
With the Winter Olympics in full swing, I thought it might be fun to share this carte-de-visite portrait of a young man holding a pair of ice skates in Uppsala, Sweden. Nineteenth-century images of people dressed specifically for winter sports are relatively rare. Because of the limitations of early cameras and photographic processes, such portraits... Continue Reading →
Along the bottom of this carte-de-visite is a handwritten inscription: Oh! A very shy young Quakeress am I And they call me Pretty little Ruth When I first published this post, I speculated that these lines might have come from a play, and that the young woman in the photograph might have been wearing a... Continue Reading →
The man in this carte-de-visite portrait isn't identified. Why does he have a blanket wrapped around him? He seems to be pointing at it: The photographer, Thomas T. Sweeny (1831-1891), worked in Cleveland, Ohio, throughout his life. Although he was active for about three decades, information about him is scarce online. Census records indicate... 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 →
This carte-de-visite has me stumped. I assumed the girl in the image would be easy to identify, but so far that hasn't been the case. At first I thought she was holding an oar, but a rower I contacted told me it was a paddle. Well, that's a start! Actually, I think the most interesting... Continue Reading →
Effie Hegermann-Lindencrone was born in Hillerød, Denmark, on August 27, 1860. This photo of her was taken in July 1879, a month before her nineteenth birthday: The carte-de-visite portrait was made at one of the two studios owned by photographer Lars Dinesen, either in Odense or in Fredericia: A year after the photo was... Continue Reading →
In the previous post we were in Kolkata, West Bengal. This week we're in the Carondelet neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. We've also traveled back in time another ten years. As you can see, it's a little colder in St. Louis, but not too cold. A light jacket is all you need for winter sports!... Continue Reading →
If only we knew her story! Alas, she isn't identified. Her carte-de-visite was made by John Bowles Newman, whose studio was at 5, Old Court House Street, Calcutta (Kolkata). The only information I found online about Mr. Newman was that he filed a petition of insolvency in 1879. It always makes me sad to read... Continue Reading →
When you first see this carte-de-visite from the early 1860s, you might get the feeling that something isn't quite right. That's because the four men in the photo are wearing clothes from a different era. I'm not sure, but I think they're dressed in styles from the period of the American Revolution, almost a century... Continue Reading →
With cold weather approaching, it might be a good time to consider updating your winter wardrobe. You might take inspiration, for example, from this fashionable winter ensemble from Chambéry, a city in eastern France and the historical capital of the Savoy region. While we don't know the identity of the young lady who is so... Continue Reading →
This early carte-de-visite from India doesn't have the young woman's name on it, but it was listed for sale on eBay along with a few other photos from the same family, one of which had "Miss Collins" written on the back. The same young woman is in that photo, along with several young adults who... Continue Reading →
Tokens of Companionship 
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