BACK TO MISCELLANEOUS

01-004; The Traveling Photographer

September 13, 1873
Janet E. Finley Collection of Quilt History Photographs
Original engraving from
The Illustrated London News
September 13, 1873
Engraving by Jenkin
"The Traveling Photographer"
Size: 9.75" x 12.5"

The photographer is busy focusing his view camera on a wealthy young mother in a bustling gown, with child. Her mustachioed husband, in a uniform with a cane, stands by, while a second young daughter holds their third child. Two curious boys, likely street urchins (one holds a broom), watch the proceedings, one staring intently at the photographer, whose head is under a dark cloth used to allow the photographer to view a dim, upside-down image on the camera's ground glass focusing screen. The photographer's assistant stands at the photographer's side, ready with camera plate holder loaded with plates covered with photographic emulsion, prepared for the purpose of capturing the portrait. A wealthy grandfather in a fine top hat watches over the proceedings with a look of admiration flanked by his wife, apparently the grandmother of the young model and the great-grandmother of the children. A beggar woman with an expression of helplessness is about to approach the grandfather. A baby carriage rests at the side. The photographer's portable darkroom/wagon, used for loading and processing plates, includes a sign "PICTURES 1 SHILLING EACH."

-- With permission of the publisher, excerpted from Janet E. Finley, Quilts in EveryDay Life 1855-1955 (Schiffer Publishing, 2012).

Load More

img