Ambrotype People

The ambrotype is something of an overlooked process-- not as stunning as the daguerreotype, not as widespread as the tintype. Though there are several variant ways of making an ambrotype, essentially it is made by applying a collodion emulsion to glass, which is then exposed in the camera. The resultant image appears negative until it is backed by something dark-- usually varnish or dark fabric, although certain kinds of tinted glass serve the same purpose without backing. The ambrotype would then be cased. This process was much cheaper than the daguerreotype (which is made on a silver plate) and so become available to a wider segment of society, although it was soon eclipsed by the much cheaper tintype, as well as the increasing popularity of paper prints. Though the ambrotype has rather gone down in history as a poor imitation of the daguerreotype, at its introduction it was in fact praised for not having the annoying mirror reflections of the daguerreotype! 

Ambrotypes are especially interesting to look at in person-- sometimes you can see the texture of the backing fabric in places, sometimes you can see cracks in the varnish, sometimes interesting effects were added (I've seen an ambrotype where the image was backed in black, but the background was backed in gold paint!). Digitized, it's often hard to even see the difference between an ambrotype and a daguerreotype. My earlier posts, preceding my entry into the field of historical photographs, don't really make a distinction. Still though, the ambrotype belongs to a certain period (about 1855 to 1865) and to certain people who lived during that period--let's celebrate their day! 

George Eastman House

Girl at a window with a book, ca. 1860. Source

State Library of New South Wales

A British officer, ca. 1857-1858. Source

George Eastman House

Two men holding a slate with the date-- Jan 8, 1857. Source

Backdrops of the Civil War

Another journey into the backdrops used by photographer's studios, this time in a certain context. During the American Civil War, ambrotype and tintype portraits of soldiers were made in great numbers by photographers who set up temporary studios at military camps (this blog has featured quite a few). While the majority of photographers just went with the plain canvas backdrop, painted backdrops were also in common use. Backdrops depicting camp scenes--usually with a prominent American flag-- were popular, along with a variety of landscapes, from the realistic to the somewhat fanciful. It is very interesting to see the kinds of scenes these young men wanted to be placed in (or the photographer though they might want to be placed it, at least). 

Library of Congress

A Union soldier with a landscape backdrop. Source

Library of Congress

A Union soldier with a checkered terrace backdrop. Source

Library of Congress

A Union soldier with a military camp backdrop. Source

Chocolate Tintypes

Tintypes-- the very popular late 19th century process of producing a photograph on a sheet of photo-sensitized iron-- are generally shades of grey, from greenish to warm. However, from the 1870s it was also possible to produce tintypes with wonderful brown tones, often known as "chocolate" tintypes. They're still on metal, but you'd never know from the colour alone. I think they're lovely.

These examples come from an archive in Norway, though given the context of their particular collection of origin,  I believe they are actually American.

Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane

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Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane

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Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane

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Friends of the Civil War

As we've seen before-- and as you can see with even the briefest visit to the Library of Congress's holdings-- photographs of soldiers during the Civil War were very popular. After all, this might be first, only, and/or last time one of these men might be able to get his picture taken. With that in mind, I find it striking how many of these men wanted that picture to be with a friend. It's especially touching how they made sure to display the affection they felt for one another, with arms on shoulders, linked arms, and even held hands (the mid 19th century was a lot less uptight about displays of male affection, perhaps surprisingly). 

Ambrotypes and tintypes, 1861-65.

Library of Congress

Private Reggie T. Wingfield and Private Hamden T. Flay in Confederate uniforms. Source

Library of Congress

Soldiers in Union shell jackets. Source

Library of Congress

Sergeant Robert Black and Private Herman Beckman in Union uniforms. Source

The Civil War, Tinted

I haven't had a people of the civil war post in a long time, which is a shame as the photographs are striking to look at and started me into this blog in the first place. Fortunately I got sucked into the Library of Congress's collection for a few hours today (when I should have been studying for a photo history exam, ironically), so I have rather a lot of material now to draw from! Expect more of this in the coming months. 

Today's theme: hand-tinting. People were crazy about photography right away, but sad it didn't yet come in colour. So a market sprung up for the tinting of photographs with paints, aided by the fact that photography put many former painters of miniatures out of work. They tinted daguerreotypes (like this one), and when they moved on to tintypes, ambrotypes, and glass negative-paper photography, they tinted those even more. You almost always see some degree of tinting in ambrotypes and higher-end tintypes, especially the cheeks. Jewellery and buttons are also often painted with gold. (just glance through this post of civil war portraits!). However, it didn't always stop there. Parts of clothing, all the clothing, parts of the backdrop, tablecloths... all were potentially coloured. Sometimes this is a nice effect. Sometime it's.... not. (Though, granted, sometimes the different rates of deterioration in the imaging substance and the paints means the colour looks more drastic today than it did originally. Sometimes, though, it was just flat out badly done).

Portraits were done very widely in the civil war, as ambrotypes and tintypes, and there was a similar wide variety of tinting going on.

From the Library of Congress.

Library of Congress

A Confederate captain. Ambrotype. Source

Library of Congress

Union soldier with bayoneted musket. Ambrotype. Source

Library of Congress

Unidentified Confederate soldier. Ambrotype. Source

Daguerreotype Dogs

As long as people have been able to photograph, they have wanted to photograph their pets! 

Note: These aren't all daguerreotypes-- actually very few of them are-- but I needed a snappy title, and 'daguerreotype' evokes the kind of 19th century photos these are. :)

Portrait of a dog, c. 1860 (ambrotype). Source

Portrait of a dog, 1846 (daguerreotype). Source

Man with a dog, 1900. Source

Dog on a chair, 1865. Source

Two portraits of a boy and dog, c. 1860 (ambrotype). Source

Black man with white child and dog, c. 1890. Source

A boy and his dog, c. 1850. Source

Man holding dog, c. 1867 (tintype). Source

Man with his dogs, c. 1860. Source

Woman with a dog, c. 1875. Source

A novelty studio photo, c. 1885. Source

Dog on a love seat, c. 1855 (daguerreotype). Source

People of the Civil War II

It's taken a rather long time to do so, but we're returning to the American Civil War. As I talked about in my first post on this theme, there are thousands of portraits of the (often very young) men who had to fight in this war, and it's incredible to look into their faces. This was 150 years ago, and yet they are so clearly like any boys today. You can see their individuality, bits of their personalities and feelings-- and 150 years comes to seem like nothing at all. 

All are from the Library of Congress. They come in elabourate frames which I've mostly cropped out to focus on the faces; you can see the originals in the links if you so desire. These particular soldiers are all unidentified. 

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Man in Zouave uniform. Source

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"Candid" Daugerreotypes

Though the exposure time for a studio photograph decreased dramatically over the decades of the mid-19th century, the process still required at least a few seconds-- and though that may not seem like long,   consider that a 'slow' portrait shutter speed today is 1/25 of a second! Added to the bulk and hassle of the equipment needed, and the days of snapshots seem far off in indeed in 1850. However, photographers soon tried to do more than the usual 'look into the camera' portrait. 

Of course I've no idea what the photographers of these images were intending-- but I like to think of them as attempts to give the effect of a subject who is not posing, perhaps even unaware of the photographer... a candid photograph. 

Note: "daguerreotype", in some of these posts, is used as an umbrella term; some of these are ambrotypes and tintypes as well, as indicated. 

All photos c. 1850-1860, and from the collections of the George Eastman House. 

Ambrotype, c. 1865. Source

Ambrotype, c1860. Source

Ambrotype, c. 1860. Source

People have always sat weirdly in chairs. This one's actually a daguerreotype, c. 1850. Source

Tintype, c. 1860.  Source

Daguerreotype Children

The next in the series of daguerreotype people; the first is here. As before, I find it so truly remarkable that we can look at these people from so long ago, and feel that they are in fact people, like anyone we would know today. Today's post concentrates on portraits of children-- children who are every bit as sweet and adorable and wonderful in the 1850s as in any other time before or since! 

From the collections of the George Eastman House, a museum dedicated to the history of photography. These photos all come in elabourate frames; I have cropped them out to focus on the faces themselves, but the links show the portraits in their original, very beautiful settings. 

Sarah Emile Mason. Daguerreotype, 1856.  Source

Unknown boy. Ambrotype, c. 1970.  Source

Little girl. Daguerreotype, c. 1860. Source

Two girls-- poor things, they don't look very happy to be there, do they? Ambrotype, c. 1860.  Source

Marion Augusta Hawes (daughter of Hawes, of Southwood and Hawes). Daguerreotype, c. 1850. Source

Mother and baby... heart-melting! Daguerreotype, c. 1850.  Source

Daguerreotype People

Going even farther back now, to the 1850s in fact, and the dawn of portrait photography. The 1850s seem so very long ago, don't they. On paper it seems like these people are so distant, and yet when you look into their faces... they aren't. The George Eastman House, a museum of photography, has a remarkable collection of daguerreotypes [the first type of photographic process, where metal plates are specially coated so they will react to the light from the lens]-- this shall rather be an ongoing series! 160 years ago, or so, and we can look at these people and get a sense of who they were. Incredible, isn't it?

Young woman with book. Daguerreotype, 1855. Source.

Unidentified young man. Daguerreotype, c. 1855. Source.

Portrait of man yawning-- or probably posing yawning, that is. Ambrotype, 1854.  Source.

Portrait of girl in scarf. Collodion positive on paper, c. 1855.  Source.

Portrait of man wearing weird hat. [Even the George Eastman House itself describes it as an unusual hat!] Dauguerreotype, c. 1855. Source.

Adorable little girl named Alice Mary Hawes. Source.