Having become the proud new owner of CDV and Cabinet lenses from the period of mass Studio photography in the late 1800's, I thought I would take a look at how these were used originally. There are quite a few online to look through - apart from one's families own.
It was a great disappointment! There are differences between the decades - but the posing is generally stereotype. In particular, photographs of any women over the age of 30 seem to be buried in layers of clothes and headdresses. Perhaps only famous people were given the time that was required?
The only one I could find that had any degree of honesty and warmth was the enclosed.
Does anyone have/seen anything that is better?
Carte de visite (perhaps taken down from a cabinet?) Stockholm, 1894
Last edited by Steven Tribe; 3-Nov-2011 at 08:05.
Reason: CDV identification
My collection spans the range from Daguerreotypes to ambrotypes, CDVs and Cabinet cards. I'm not sure if the CDV/Cabinet card distinction is valid once the Cabinet card era begins, because the style of production is different, even if the sizes are the same. I've seen some later images that are CDV sized, but they're on heavy cardstock with the high gloss albumen finish common to Cabinet cards. There's also a wider degree of variation in sizes and styles in Cabinet cards than there are in true CDVs.
I think the biggest difference in posing quality, especially with regards to the relationship with the subjects, comes from the quality of the photographer more than anything. In truly early photos, it's hard to get images that show warmth and emotive affect because the exposure times were so long it was hard for people to show any expression other than a flat stare.
As to womens' costuming, well, that was the societal norm - women over 30 were expected to be matronly, regardless of marital status.
"heavy cardstock with the high gloss albumen finish" - Yes, that sounds like I one I illustrated (and bought! ).
So a family group CDV would be down sized from a Cabinet negative?
Just to check - "Cabinet Cards" is the term for CDV sized cards made from a Cabinet original?
I don't know that it was a distinction at that point. And I don't think it was "cut down". I've seen photos in that "Cabinet card" style ranging anywhere from CDV size up to 8x10. That said, I don't think I've ever come across two copies of the exact same image in different sizes from that period. Until the late 1880's/early 1890s with the advent of silver gelatin printing papers, it was very hard to enlarge, so most images were contact printed. Thus it is unlikely that it was cut down from a bigger image.
Cabinet card is a term referring more to a style of photograph than a size per-se, although MOST Cabinet cards are in the 4x6/5x7 inch size range, as opposed to the 2x3 inch CDV. Meaning that if it is bigger than 2x3, it is NOT a CDV, but if it is smaller than 4x6, it could still be a Cabinet card. Think of it more as a time period- what most people think of as a CDV was contemporaneous with the cased tintype, and they are sized comparably as well. With the changes in technology (dry plates, mass-production of albumen papers, silver gelatin papers, and eventually roll film), you had changes in the style and size of the cards, and the birth of the Cabinet card. If you want to put time periods on it, the CDV era begins in the late 1850s and falls from popularity by the 1880s, although images in the CDV size continue to be made into the dawn of the 20th century, as do tintypes. Tintypes actually survive longer than CDVs. The Cabinet card begins its rise in the 1870s and becomes the dominant style from the 1880s to the early 1900s. They are gone by the 1920s. Of course these dates vary by geographic location, as some parts of the world are slower to pick up or discard the trends. For example, there are virtually no Daguerreotypes of Japan, as the Daguerreotype era was winding down in the West just as Perry was sailing into Tokyo harbor. Likewise, the cased ambrotype in Japan lives on well past the end of the ambrotype era in the West, with examples being made into the 1880s/1890s, in handmade wooden cases rather than the pressed leather or gutta percha cases popular in the United States.
Thanks for extra info.
I have just discovered that most CDV/Cabinet images are listed under collectables rather than photography at e**y which was a surprise and gives a better overview.
Interesting to discover post mortem images - Victorians had no problem with photographs of their deceased children. I wonder how this was arranged practically?
Ah I see, good question, I'll delve a little deeper and see what I can find out.
I worked for a while in a medical photography department and found it interesting that this was still a service offered by the hospital to recently bereaved families of young/newborn children.
And as for "Feepay" its usually best to search the .com site, thousand of cards/plates for sale.
I've seen examples of all of the above with regard to post-mortem photos. I've even got a few in my collection. Everything from close-ups of the face of the deceased that don't indicate where they were taken, to wide-angle shots of the entire funerary display at the funeral parlor including the coffin and floral arrangements. I think that the mother-and-child photos were more often taken in the home, but I have no statistical basis to confirm or reject that theory. I just can't picture someone hauling their dead child through the streets to have it photographed.
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