Having examined photographic formats, photographer details and card-mount styles in the previous chapters, we now turn to the photographic image itself. While the methods outlined earlier all help with photograph dating, we should also consider the clues contained within the picture: by scrutinising the many visual elements of a scene, it is possible to estimate approximately when our forebears were photographed. In this chapter we concentrate on the pose and presentation – or composition – of the subject(s), and their surroundings, before looking more specifically at the evidence of dress in Chapter 5.
Studio Portraits
Most Victorian and Edwardian photographs in today’s family picture collections were taken by commercial photographers; so, too, were some more recent photographs, when our relatives desired a superior portrait. The majority of professional photographs originated in the studio and portray their subjects in an artificial environment. Studio sets can sometimes look rather like a theatrical stage as they may display a painted backcloth and used various ‘props’ to create a three-dimensional effect. Drapes, painted architectural features, fake windows, pieces of solid furniture and other moveable indoor accessories such as plant stands produced an idealised drawing room setting, while rocks, greenery, fences, gates and pergolas positioned against rustic scenery suggested a picturesque outdoor location. Studios kept special accessories to create a genteel, respectable ambience: quality toys such as dolls, spinning tops and musical instruments were provided for children, while adults often held a book, album or letter, implying literacy at a time when not everyone could read. Personal items could be brought along for photograph sittings, such as a child’s favourite toy or a sporting ancestor’s tennis racquet, but articles from home were only welcomed if they carried positive associations and helped to enhance the portrait.
When a client entered the studio, the photographer took control, composing them in a suitable manner, positioning the angle of their head, stance and placing of the legs, arms and feet to best advantage and suggesting an appropriate facial expression. Victorian ancestors were not generally inclined to grin cheerfully for the camera, but equally they did not wish to appear dull and wooden, so together client and photographer aimed for a ‘pleasing expression’ – one of dignity, pensiveness or intelligent seriousness. Until the 1880s, when faster dry photographic plates came into common use, thereby reducing the exposure time needed for the photograph, posing stands were sometimes used to help sitters maintain their pose: some were free-standing, while others were attached to chairs, and some involved uncomfortable head clamps. Women’s full skirts covered the bases of stands effectively, although close inspection of men’s and children’s portraits may sometimes reveal a stand behind the feet.
Commercial photography studios usually took up to four different poses at the time of the sitting: once printed, they were shown to the customer who could then select which portrait(s) they wished to have mounted and to purchase. The resulting pictures reflected not only the client’s personal choice, but also expressed the photographer’s skills and the photographic conventions of the era – current ideas about composition and prevailing tastes in backdrops, furniture and other props. Since studio fashions changed significantly over the years, recognising the key stylistic features of different periods helps to narrow down the time frame of individual photographs.
Dating the Composition and Setting
In the daguerreotypes and ambrotypes of the 1840s and 1850s, single figures are generally depicted close-up in a half-length or short three-quarter length composition. Usually, they are seated on a chair facing directly forward or slightly turned, with one elbow resting on an adjacent table. There may be a hint of background detail, occasionally a painted backcloth, and sometimes an elaborate cloth covers the table, but the main focus is on the subject (Figs 1, 2 and 26). Photographing several people at once in the studio presented a technical challenge in the mid-nineteenth century, so most early photographs portray just one or two people, rarely more than three. Over time larger groups became more common: to photograph two or more subjects together in the studio, the photographer had to move back, so several figures usually appear in full-length or long three-quarter length, whatever the period, as seen in Figs 31 and 44.
Some photographers continued using the early, close-up composition at the beginning of the 1860s, but when card-mounted cdvs became popular, a new visual image evolved. Typical cartes of the 1860s depict single subjects posing full-length – doll-like figures standing or sitting in what was usually a mock drawing room interior (Figs 3, 27, 41 and 50). Often a curtain is draped to one side and there are one or two pieces of solid furniture, perhaps an architectural column or plinth, or a table and/or a chair. Usually, standing subjects support themselves, hand resting on a table top, chair or pedestal, although older ancestors in particular might be seated. With an expanse of room on display in these early carte de visite photographs, we often notice patterned flooring and a stretch of wainscot or skirting board. Sometimes there is a decorative backcloth, perhaps a painted window, door or archway opening onto a trompe l’oeil landscape beyond. Artistic studios were also experimenting with ‘outdoor’ settings by the later 1860s (Fig. 29): these became more common in the following decades.