Who Can Know ...

There is more to a picture than first meets the eye. There are many reasons for collecting specific photos. In this case it was not for the young woman’s expression which is not just solemn – there is significant composure in her pose – but a niggling sense that this may be a person who is not very happy at this time in her life (how much can you tell from a single image; my supposition may be entirely unfounded?)

I bought it because it is a very nice image in almost every other way: the composition and exposure are exquisite, her posture is impeccable and oddly relaxed even as it is upright; the dress is a wonderful example of the best of the current fashion, neither overblown or excessively plain (I think just after the bustle craze and before the extreme shoulder and sleeve treatments of the 1890s; note that the styles required skillful alterations for each individual wearer); she may be just above average height.

What a difference it would have made if she had presented just the hint of a smile, or a touch of life to her eyes, or a more congenial softness to her outlook! What you cannot see but I detect at close inspection, is that she is quite heavily freckled; perhaps she is a redhead. I don’t mean to suggest that this is the reason for her demeanor, even though a freckled complexion was what a woman of her time sought to avoid (as was a tan), but some people are freckled even if they stay out of the sun. Little things may color a person’s view of life, but we cannot know if she had far better reasons for looking at the world as she seems to on this day. Her self possession is remarkable though. We do not have a right to happiness, only to the pursuit of happiness.

If she were here she might tell me to mind my own business and keep my pop psychology to myself, thank you very much – and she would have a point, yet I might respond that, more than a century removed, I cannot help but respond to a photo as I would to any stranger on the street (we humans are past masters at reading expressions – it comes with a few hundred thousand years of survival instincts).

This is from the studio of Brittingham & Webster of West Springfield and Ware, MA.

Fortune Smiles

I often site instances where life behind the camera is unkind, but this image is one of those where the photographer can’t lose for winning – unless he put the film in backward or messed up the film developing. Some subjects seem made for the camera.

The fortunate man: Mr. F. O Devereux, Artist in Photography, 61 Western Road, Hove, Brighton. He advertised that “This picture can be enlarged to any size in permanent carbon or on opal. Copies may be had.” Late 19th century.

Wicker Supreme. My, My, Now That Is A Chair!

You may get tired of hearing this from me, but I bet you think it too when you look at family photos: what was the drive to go to the studio and have the portrait taken? Was it a "rite of life" condition: the social requirement to have the photo of the couple, or the family, to sit on the table or the piano in the parlor? It frequently looks like an exercise and not a pleasure.

There is a genre of family photos that makes you immediately realize that it was Mom whose idea it was to do this – she has the satisfied and proprietary expression while the husband and children look like this is their first foray into polite society. In this case I wonder. I don’t mean to make light of people’s motivations but I do wonder if the photographer might have tried a bit harder and taken another exposure or two; surely the photographer shares some responsibility for the outcome (but, to be fair, maybe he had a great shot and this is the one they chose; how many times have I seen that happen!).

Timebinder is a collection that represents culture and how people used the camera – it isn’t an art collection where the sole purpose is to gather the greatest art one can – so while there are some absolutely wonderful examples of camera art, there is also the other, warts and all.

It may be the designer in me, but I am not fond of wicker, or furniture made out of anything that makes more sense if it was meant to hold vegetables or fruit and not people; I feel the same way about chairs made of elk antlers, or tree limbs with the bark still on them; but that’s just me and it would be a dreary world indeed if everyone was like me – and photographs would be so much less interesting to look at and collect!

On the subject of chairs: photos of this period most often had the woman standing and the man seated, in other periods it was just the opposite. What, if anything, do you think it says about cultural attitudes and gender roles?

July 4th 1910

Ooops! Someone broke this glass negative, then pieced it together and printed it anyway. 

A little salvage work and an attempt to repair what was missing:

Won't win any prizes, but good enough for government work. Have a good 4th!

With Children You Never Know

Little children are not wholly domesticated creatures at best, so the best thing about photographing them is that you never know what you will get! Only the older girl here is giving the camera operator what an adult could hope for – an entirely natural and engaging smile – all the rest of the expressions are out in left field: incomprehension, boredom, what the heck, what do you want me to do, are you done yet, do you know how to use that thing? Serves you right when you try to pose children. The dog couldn't care less but at least he has dignity. Best to get candid shots, a lot easier to do today than it was with a bellows camera with a 4 x 5 inch glass plate.

I knew a couple whose daughter exacted revenge: for about two years they could not get one decent photo of her because they once made the mistake of telling her to smile – from then on whenever she saw a camera she immediately froze and pasted on the most frightful version of a fake smile anyone could imagine in their worst dreams! My own sister was not told to smile and she rarely did for the camera when she was a toddler, but she always instantly squatted down and watched you intently. No one could understand this. Years later it occurred to me that adults squatted with the camera in order to get on her level – she was merely reciprocating! 

Aren't kids great! They will make monkeys of you when they can.