Saturday 12 May 2012

Sepia Saturday 125: A portrait at home, by James Brennen of Derby


The Sepia Saturday photo prompt this week is an image showing Queen Victoria's vast kitchen, part of the newly released (online) Diamond Jubilee Scrapbook 1897. Rather than try to match that, I'm goping to down-scale considerably, although remaining with domestic interiors.

Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman
by J. Brennen of Derby, c.1862-1863
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley

John Bradley sent me this image of a rather unusual carte de visite portrait some time ago, but I neglected to include it in the revision of my web page for Derby photographer James Brennen a year ago. It is unusual for the three-dimensional feel of the photograph, in spite of it being an very early example of this format. From a close examination of the image I believe this is partly because it was taken in a real living room, rather than in a manufactured studio setting.

The subject, an elderly woman wearing a bonnet, is seated in an armchair which is mostly in shade, emphasizing the bright shaft of sunlight falling on her skirt. It is the shadows, often purposely absent from artificial studios, which give the portrait much of its character. The furniture in the background, possibly a fireplace and mantelpiece, appear to be real, rather than painted onto a coloured or patterned backdrop, lending to the enhanced depth of field. The bell-pull - if that's what it is - suggests a house big enough to have servants who could be summoned. Perhaps not Buckingham Palace, but probably a family of some means.

Image © and courtesy of John Bradley

The reverse of the card mount is imprinted with a design that I have classified as one of Brennen's earliest, used c.1862-1863. The seated view, with the subject's body facing forwards, directly into the photographer's lens, is typical of portraits taken in the previous decade, when collodion positives (aka ambrotypes), and less commonly daguerreotypes, were the norm. James Brennen was, in fact, one of Derby's very early photographic practitioners, having first opened a studio at 14 Irongate in 1853 or 1854, so would have been quite practised in studio portraiture by the time this was taken.

Image © and courtesy of Nigel AspdinImage © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman
by J. Brennen of Derby, c.1862-1863
Images © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin

It would not be long, however, before he was taking more conventional full length standing portraits with the obligatory ornate high-backed chair and curtain which became the accepted style, as demonstrated by the example above, also taken by Brennen, probably c.1862-1863.

So was Brennen making house calls in 1862-1863? Perhaps only for the elderly and infirm who couldn't make it to his studio. We shall probably never know, but this portrait is worth valuing for the character invoked by the photographer's use of a little extra light and shadow.

11 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading your insights and assumptions about these photos. You have pointed out details I certainly would have missed on my own.

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  2. The seated woman with the sunlight on her skirt does make for a more interesting portrait than the more common studio pose in the other.

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  3. The first photo is much more appealing than the second. Thanks for including the link to the scrapbook which I shall study at my leisure.

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  4. Ah yes, far more interesting with the shaft of light falling across the woman’s skirt. I like the idea of him visiting the elderly and infirm if they couldn’t make it to the studio.

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  5. I really like the first one too. They sure did have high ceilings back then, didn't they? It was nice for the photographer to make house calls like that. It is hard to imagine a time when people didn't own their own cameras.

    Thank you,

    Kathy M.

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  6. I prefer the second photo. I like her pose and the way the light shines up her beautiful dress.
    Nancy

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  7. The first photo makes the woman seem more real.

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  8. A fascinating contrast. Photographers of this era kept such a consistent fashion for posing their subjects, that a photo outside of the studio is rare. I like the little footstool as well as the bell pull. Very classy.

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  9. So fascinating to see a shot in a real home environment!

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  10. Ah, it is good to have you back : I have missed the fine detail and the richness of the presentation - and it is your posts I am talking about just as much as the images.

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  11. The picture of the old woman is indeed very unusual and I probably would not have picked up on all those oddities. It is strange to see a photo that was taken in an actual home - I can really see what you mean about the 3D effect. This is going to make me look harder at all the photos I come across.

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