Sepia Saturday 172: Sunny Snaps walking pictures

Between the two World Wars photographers took to the streets in search of customers and produced a genre now commonly referred to as walkies (short for walking pictures) or street/pavement photography. I have displayed examples of these in two previous Photo-Sleuth articles, Spotlight Photos Ltd. of Derby and in Bournemouth and Great Yarmouth.


Unidentified family (Minns Collection)
Postcard by Sunny Snaps (street photographer), Bognor Regis, 1934
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
This week I feature several postcard-format walking pictures from the firm Sunny Snaps, which operated for just over a decade between 1927 and 1940 in London and on the coast of Sussex. A single view has been found ostensibly taken in Hunstanton, on the Norfolk coast.

Although sunny snaps was sometimes used in a more general - and perhaps generic - sense to refer to walking pictures, and there were other firms incorporating the word snaps, postcards produced by this particular firm are immediately recognisable by their distinctive format. The cards are usually, but not always, produced in portrait orientation and have a panel at the base of the card. This panel is embellished with a pen-and-ink drawing - usually a scene or image representative of the location, but sometimes a royal or patriotic picture/logo - the name of the firm, the year and usually the location. There is almost always a negative number as well.


Unidentified woman pushing a pram
Postcard by Sunny Snaps (street photographer), London, 1934
Image © and courtesy of lovedaylemon and Flickr
Walking pictures differ from other portraits taken by itinerant or street photographers because they are taken "on spec." The photographer takes snapshots of a succession of passers-by while they are walking towards the camera, irrespective of whether or not the subjects have requested one, and presumably without their permission. The subject is handed a numbered ticket (corresponding to the negative number) and informed where he or she may collect and pay for a postcard print in due course. Simon Robinson has determined from his research into this firm, including an analysis of atreet scenes, that they usually made arrangements with a handy shop premises nearby, and erected a temporary advertising banner to assist in directing customers.

As a result, the subjects are often captured regarding the camera with a vague degree of suspicion - as in the first snapshot from Bognor Regis - or are oblivious to the photographer's presence, as the woman with a pram (above) appears to be, more interested in the contents of a London shop window display.


Unidentified women out shopping
Postcard by Sunny Snaps (street photographer), Worthing, 1934
Image © and courtesy of lisabee73 and Flickr
As a result they often have a candid feel to them mostly absent from more formal photographs from the era. This characteristic is generally missing from vernacular snapshots where the subjects are often conscious that their images are being captured, and may even ham it up for the camera. The fact that Sunny Snaps portraits are usually of a very good technical standard means that there are fewer of the distractions normally present in walking pictures, giving us a unusual glimpse into the subjects' everyday lives and personalities.


Unidentified schoolboys, August 1935, unknown location
Postcard by Sunny Snaps (street photographer), Silver Jubilee, 1935
Image © and courtesy of trevira and Flickr
These schoolboys, possibly caught on film on their way home from school, are enjoying their freedom and have a casual look about them (at least the two on the left do). Had their parents been present their faces would most likely have been far more guarded. I wonder which one of the three spent a good portion of his weekly pocket money on the postcard.

The trick, if the photographer could manage it, was to single out his subject and take his "candid" portrait in such a manner that he or she stood out from both the surroundings and the other pedestrians, and of course in a favourable light, rather than being caught with a scowl or merely being lost in the crowd. They were not always entirely successful - in this example the subjects almost disppear into the background. Many of the people on the streets of these coastal towns would be holidaymakers, and therefore far more likely to part with a few coins for a souvenir of their visit, but it was still necessary to entice them with a good quality product.


Unidentified family on the beach, Littlehampton
Postcard by Sunny Snaps (street photographer), G VI R, 1937
Image © and courtesy of lovedaylemon and Flickr
In this slightly more unusual posed Sunny Snap, a family is posed relaxing in canvas folding chairs in front of wooden changing sheds on the Littlehampton beach in 1937. A similar shot with a beach setting from a decade earlier shows a family in the midst of constructing a sandcastle, so it appears that when trade was not particularly brisk on the street, the photographer would venture onto the sands in search of customers. However, there were others specialising in scouring the beaches, and a seaside photographer guarded his turf aggressively. Unauthorised interlopers were referred to as Spivs or Smudge Grafters.


Unidentified man strolling with newspaper, Hunstanton
Postcard by Sunny Snaps (street photographer), 1938
Image © and courtesy of lovedaylemon and Flickr
This neatly dressed and combed young man appears deep in thought while he strolls down the quay, a newspaper folded and firmly tucked under his arm, and presumably shortly before being accosted by a man waving a ticket under his nose, and badgering him to return and buy a print later that day. Judging by the survival of this postcard it seems that he did so.

Although it is tempting to assume that a large proportion of the photographs printed in this speculative trade ended up being discarded, judging from contemporary reports perhaps we would be underestimating the marketing skills of the teams who worked the pavements and beachfronts. Alan Purvis was employed by Walkie Snaps at Blackpool's Central Pier in 1958, and describes these skills in some detail:

The best time for taking pictures was on a Sunday morning as the new set of holidaymakers, who had arrived on the previous day, were in a good mood and still had money to spend. Friday afternoon was the worst as they were going home the next day and were stoney broke! Some people would refuse a ticket, others would say that they had been snapped the day before and regular walkers might raise a hand to indicate that they weren’t interested in having their picture taken. Occasionally clients actually requested one snap or more to include all the family.
The photographer had to make a quick decision as to the composition of the picture. Snaps of a single person were less likely to be bought than those of a couple; pictures of three or more people could easily include total strangers; even in 1958 a couple may not have wanted to be seen together!

Terence Baggett worked as a beach photographer in Weymouth in the 1960s and reports:

Volume, then and later, was important. My best score was 1,200 in one day with a Leica. Sales was more important as pay was calculated on 3d/sale and less than 60% sales won a threat of sacking.

Searching through your own family photo collections will almost certainly bring one or two walking pictures to light. You may even find a couple among the other Sepia Saturday contributions this week.

References

Sunny Snaps and Littlehampton Sunny Snap, by Simon Robinson on Go Home on a Postcard.

Walking Pictures by Simon Robinson, with a comment by Alan Purvis (9 Sep 2011).

A Seaside Photographer, George Raymond Meadows (1914-2000), by Paul and Gail Godfrey.

Walking Pictures by Paul Godfrey on Our Great Yarmouth

List of Seaside Photographers in the United Kingdom by Paul Godfrey

Seaside Photographers by Paul Godfrey on British Photographic History, with comments by Terrence Baggett and others, May-July 2012.

Sepia Saturday 99: Brass bandsman, by J.J. Gascoigne of Mosborough

Unidentified bandsman with cornet, c. late 1890s
Cabinet portrait by J.J. Gascoigne of Mosborough
Image © and courtesy of Brett Payne
In the 1890s and early 1900s, when this portrait was probably taken, Mosborough was a small hamlet a mile north of Eckington church, south-east of Sheffield. I thought his uniform might suggest that he was a member of a military band, perhaps even a local militia, but a knowledgeable member of the Victorian Wars Forum has suggested that he was more likely to have been a civilian bandsman. The instrument appears to my untrained eye to be a cornet, but perhaps a sharp-eyed and more musically minded reader will provide the chapter and verse on this. Nor can I offer much in the way of useful comments on the rather large sheepskin or the small dog seated very obediently at the bandsman's feet.


Image © and courtesy of Brett Payne
The painted backdrop is rather crude, suggesting a somewhat earlier time period than the rest of the portrait's attributes, in particular the card mount, which is a typical generic "flowers and cherub" design popularised in the mid-1890s. The photographer's name is only printed on the front of the card mount, and has been partly worn off, but reference to my index of Derbyshire photographers shows him to be J.J. Gascoigne (or Gascoyne) of Mosborough, near Sheffield.

John Joseph Gascoigne was born at Bolsover, Derbyshire in 1875, son of a chimney sweep Enoch Gascoigne (1838-1916) and his wife Matilda Godfrey (1843-1916). He married his first cousin Matilda Esther Godfrey (1873-1969) in 1896, and they had at least four sons. John Gascoigne was described only as a chimney sweep, like his father, in the 1901 and 1911 censuses, but trade directories reveal that he practised as a photographer from his home in South Street, Mosborough from at least 1908 until 1912.

Although I haven't had the opportunity to devote as much time as usual to this week's Sepia Saturday theme, I think it does still qualify as a themer. Hopefully a lot more will be forthcoming for the centenary celebration next week.

Sepia Saturday 98: Cart, Coach and Carriage Drivers and the Day Excursion

Reverse of card mount by George Renwick, Burton-on-Trent
Image © and courtesy of Marion Oubhie
Marion Oubhie sent me an image of an unidentified man, possibly from her Showell family, asking if I could estimate a date. It is a standard carte de visite by the Burton-upon-Trent (Staffordshire) studio of George Renwick. From the design of the card mount (see image below) and the negative number, I believe that the photograph was produced around 1883-1885.


Unidentified man with a whip, c. late 1870s/early 1880s
Carte de visite portrait by George Renwick, Burton-on-Trent
Image © and courtesy of Marion Oubhie
The date of the portrait sitting is a little more difficult to estimate, partly because the studio setting and furniture are not visible, but also because my knowledge of the subject of men's clothing fashions is meagre. It is possible that the subject sat for the portrait in the early to mid-1880s, as suggested by the mount, but I think it more likely that it is actually a copy of a slightly earlier photograph, taken perhaps in the mid- to late 1870s. Perhaps the man visited a studio first in the late 1870s, and then ordered a further copy of the portrait half a dozen or so years later.

I was intrigued with the object in the man's right hand, which appears to be a whip and suggests an occupation involving driving a team of horses or draft animals. He was probably a wagon, coach or carriage driver. Marion's Showell ancestors were agricultural or brewer's labourers and farmers, so it seems likely that this man drove a wagon transporting farm produce or supplies for the brewing industry in Burton.


William Mottram and his daughter Sarah, c. late 1860s/early 1870s
Carte de visite portrait by John Clark of Matlock Bath
Image © and courtesy of Linda Snyder
These two images sent to me by Linda Snyder, and taken by Matlock Bath photographer John Clark, portray an occupation which is far less equivocal. William Mottram (c.1813-1879) is shown as an ostler in the 1861 Census, and as a labourer ten years later, but Linda tells me that he was employed as a coachman at the time these portraits were taken.


William Mottram, c. late 1860s/early 1870s
Carte de visite portrait by John Clark of Matlock Bath
Image © and courtesy of Linda Snyder
The clothing certainly gives that impression, with the short ornamented jacket, top hat and leather riding boots. He also has a special leather side flap fastened with buckles to the outer side of his lower right leg, presumably to protect his boots, clothes and calves from the horses harness or something similar. I'm sure there's a name for these, something like leggings or chaps, although neither of those terms seem to quite fit this item.


Reverse of card mounts, John Clark of Matlock Bath
Although clearly taken at the same sitting the card mounts used for these two portraits are different. Together with the studio setting and clothing and hair styles of the young woman, the card designs suggest to me that the portrait was taken in the late 1860s or very early 1870s. Sarah would have turned 18 years old in late 1871 or early 1872.



The last image in this series was sent to me by Ann Bruce, whose great-grandparents James and Ann Smith (nee Gosling), he standing up in the carriage, are about to head off on a day's excursion from Aberystwyth. They lived in Smethwick, near Birmingham so would have travelled by train to the coastal town in north Wales, and stayed in a hotel there before taking the excursion. Unfortunately the driver is mostly hidden by a passenger in the front seat anxious to show his best side to the camera.

From the size of the "leg of mutton" sleeves of the dresses that the two visible women members of the party are wearing, I estimate the photograph to have been taken in the mid-1890s. The number "935" appears to have been written in black ink on the negative, this printing out white on the print. The photographer is likely to have handed out tickets with this number printed to members of the excursion party, and they would no doubt have been able to buy a print upon their return, much as Bailey did in Bournemouth between the wars (Sepia Saturday 92: All Aboard the Bournemouth Queen). It also suggests that the photographer was a regular habitue of excursion parties, and it may well be that there are other such photographs surviving out there. Actually, I'm being somewhat disingenuous, because I have already featured an Aberystwyth excursion photo by Gyde, using an identical card mount, and with the negative number "1139," on Photo-Sleuth three years ago.

I see there is a second, as yet unoccupied, horse drawn carriage behind the first, presumably waiting for the next party to arrive, and I suspect that the large, double storey building in the background was some sort of inn or hotel. There is something behind and to the left of the main carriage, but I can't work out exactly what it is. The printing on it, "THE DE... WATER ... AND G..." is tantalising, but as yet unrevealing.

Thank you very much Marion, Linda and Ann for these excellent examples of occupational photographs, which have slotted nicely into my take on this week's Sepia Saturday theme. I trust you will now head over there to check out what the other slaves to sepia have on offer.

The Crystoleum: Bringing the Art of Photo Colourisation into the Home

Crystoleum sounds like the name of a Victorian fairground attraction, an entrance for which you might expect to see between Strange and Wilson's Aetherscope and the helter skelter. In fact it was another of the many photographic formats which appeared in the 1880s and 1890s and enjoyed a period of popularity which lasted until the Great War.


Edith and Maud Barnes of Ashbourne, c.1883-1885
Cabinet card portrait by Alfred Cox & Co., Nottingham
Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
This is a standard cabinet portrait, showing Edith and Maud Barnes dressed for a stroll in the noon day sun, complete with fake boulders and a landscape backdrop to complete the outdoors scene. Although they lived in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, where their father William Barnes was an ironmonger, it appears the family visited Nottingham frequently, because several of their photographic portraits were taken at the studio of Alfred W. Cox & Co. Edith was born in mid-1877, Maud roughly two years later, which places this portrait sitting around 1883-1885.


"Bamboo and Fan" card design by Trapp & Münch, Berlin
Cabinet card by Alfred Cox & Co., Tavistock Chambers, Market Place, Nottingham
Turning over the cabinet card reveals a design printed on the reverse which is very similar to "Bamboo and Fan" from Marion of Paris, described by Vaughan (2003) as introduced in 1884, although this particular example is by Trapp & Münch of Berlin.


The card stock used is of a medium intensity grey colour and has the appearance of having been made from recycled pulp in which the darker fibres are still visible, as shown above, of a type which became more commonly used in the mid-to late 1880s.


Edith and Maud Barnes of Ashbourne, c.1883-1885
Colourised cabinet card portrait by Alfred Cox & Co., Nottingham
Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
A second cabinet portrait, taken from the same negative, is likely to have been produced on the same occasion. The card mount is identical - albeit this one has not been trimmed at the base - but it shows signs of having been hand coloured. Although somewhat faded, the yellow in the hair, pink cheeks and dresses, brownish fur and red hat bands and cloth are still visible. The studio did, after all, bill themselves as "Photographers Miniature & Portrait Painters," and had offered "portraits in oil or crayon" from at least the early 1870s.


Edith and Maud Barnes of Ashbourne, c.1883-1885
Crystoleum portrait on glass
Photograph by Alfred Cox & Co., Nottingham
Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
The third in this series of similar portraits, while appearing in this image to be somewhat similar, bar the different colouring, is quite another format altogether. Closer examination of the original shows it to have been printed on the back of a slightly convex rectangular piece of fully translucent glass, roughly the same size as the original cabinet card.


Recycled carboard backing of crystoleum portrait
This is backed with a piece of card, apparently reused from an unwanted cardboard-backed print of an engraving, possibly of some European city. (Full marks to the first reader who can tell me what city it is, although it's not likely to have much relevance to this post).


Colourised back of crystoleum portrait
Carefully separating the cardboard from the glass, the owner (not myself) revealed a rather surprising picture, appearing similar to the efforts of a young child in a "paint-by-numbers" book. It was obvious, though, that the colours of this crude picture on the concave side of the glass matched perfectly those visible through the convex side and were, in fact, directly responsible for the not altogether displeasing colourised portrait.


Section of Crystoleum (Jones, 1911)
This portrait is a crystoleum, a format distinct from the crystalotype, an albumen-on-glass process patented by the American John Adams Whipple in 1850, used first for negatives and later for positives. The clearest description I have found of the process involved in producing a crystoleum portrait is by "P.R.S." in Cassell's Cyclopedia of Photography (Jones, 1911), which includes the following brief summary:

A is the front glass, on which a photograph B is pasted face downwards. When dry the photograph is made transparent, and delicate details coloured with ordinary oil colours, but the broad masses of colour are not put on. Another glass D, of the same size and shape as A, as put at the back, but is prevented from touching the photograph by means of strips of paper H, which leave a small space at C. On the back E of the second glass are painted the broad masses of colour. The whole is backed up with a piece of flat cardboard or other backing G, leaving a space F. When viewed from the front the coloyrs are seen through the transparent photograph and the whole has the appearance of a delicately painted picture on glass.

Disassembled crystoleum portrait (Whitman et al, 2007)
Whitman et al (2007) show a disassembled crystoleum portrait (above) and describe the process:

The Crystoleum process was popular from the 1880’s until the 1910’s, and was usually a albumen print face-mounted to convex glass with gum or paste. The paper is then rubbed away with sandpaper until the emulsion layer is exposed. What was left of the paper was made translucent, if needed, with a dry oil, wax or varnish. The fine details were then painted on the back of the photograph, a second piece of convex glass that has been broadly coloured is layered behind the image glass, and the package is bound with a paper backing.

Crystoleum portrait of unidentified young girl, undated
Chromo-Photographie, Jules Delarue, Genève
Image © and courtesy of Nordiska museet/The Nordic Museum
This crystoleum portrait of a young Swiss girl from the Nordic Museum, also usefully disassembled, has the same components, and the web site provides an image showing the back of the front glass with the "fine details" (below).


Crystoleum portrait, back of front glass and front of second glass
The first mention of the crystoleum that I have been able to find in the British newspapers is an advertisement in The Morning Post in June 1882 offering "Lessons given in this new and easily acquired Art of Painting in Oils. Proficiency guaranteed or money will be returned," in Oxford Street, London. This suggests to me that, provided one had an albumen print with which to work and the materials, which could readily be had at the local chemist, no great artistic skills were required to transform the photograph into a work of art.


Crystoleum portrait, back of second glass and front of backing card
Indeed by July 1885 the process was being described in full for readers of The Observer (Anon, 1885). It took another decade for it to reach such far flung parts of the Empire as New Zealand, but in August 1896 residents of Dunedin were regaled with details of how to participate in the delights of the "crystoleum craze" by an enthusiastic contributer to the Otago Witness (Anon, 1896).


Crystoleum portrait, unidentified place and photographer, undated
Image © and courtesy of Länsmuseet Gävleborg/Gävleborg County Museum
As shown by this scene of a country estate, perhaps somewhere in Sweden, the crystoleum process was not limited to portraits, and could be used to very good effect on landscape photographs.

The portrait of Edith and Maud Barnes was taken in the early to mid-1880s, which roughly equates to the period when the crystoleum started to become popular, transforming into something of a do-it-yourself style process. The Barnes crystoleum may of course have been created some time after the original cabinet cards, but it is interesting to speculate whether it was done by the Nottingham studio of Alfred Cox, or perhaps by a member of the Barnes family. Either is conceivable, and we are unlikely to ever know for sure, unless the reused engraving print can be identified as coming from the Barnes household.

If you have a crystoleum in your own collection, I'd be interested in hearing from you and seeing some images, particularly if the subjects are members your own family. Although it appears to have been very popular in late Victorian and Edwardian times, many examples won't have survived and they may not be very common.

References

Anon (1885) All About Crystoleum Painting, Observer, Volume 7, Issue 345, 18 July 1885, Page 4, Courtesy of Early Canterbury Photographers.

Anon (1896) A Lesson in Crystoleum Painting (by Cigarette), Otago Witness, 27 August 1896, p.42, Courtesy of Papers Past.

Anon (2009) Victorian Crystoleums - How they were made, Arthaul.com

Jones, B.E. (1974) Crystoleums, in Cassell's Cyclopedia of Photography, Ayer Publishing (Reprint of the 1911 Edition by Cassell, London), p. 154-155.

Vaughan, Roger (2003) Dating CDV photographs from the designs on the back: The 1880s Page Two, Victorian and Edwardian Photographs - Roger Vaughan Personal Collection.

Whitman, K., Osterman, M. & Chen, J.-J. (2007) The History and Conservation of Glass Supported Photographs, George Eastman House, Advanced Residency Program in Photograph Conservation, p. 36.

Derby Photographers: Leonard Norman

I have previously written about the photographic studio on the top floor of 36 Victoria Street, Derby, the building known to Victorian Derbeians as Clulow's bookstore. After being first used as a branch studio in the early to mid-1860s by the Leicester firm of John Burton & Sons, it was subsequently occupied by a succession of photographers: Clement Rogers from c.1870 to 1874, J.W. Price (1874-c.1880), Harry J. Watson (c.1887-c.1893) and Layton & Lamb (1898).



Unidentified young woman, c.1899-1900
Cabinet card by Leonard Norman, 36 Victoria Street, Derby
In late 1898 or early 1899 Leonard Norman took over the studio
and was in business there for the compilation of the 1899 edition of Kelly's trade directory. He was born in Litchurch, Derby in 1864, one of seven children of engine smith William Gilford Norman. Adamson (1997) shows Norman operating in Victoria Street as a photographer in 1900, but by April 1901 he had moved on. The census found him boarding in Ipswich, Suffolk, employed as a photographer. Details of his movements after this date are unclear, although there is a listing of a Leonard Norman, photographer at 63 Abbey Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire in 1912.

With such a brief period of operation in Derby his output there must have been very limited, perhaps a few thousand at most. I am fortunate, therefore, to have been sent this image of a fine cabinet portrait of an unidentified young woman from Norman's studio by Robert Silverwood.



The reverse of the card mount has only the words Norman and Derby printed across the diagonal in a "signature style." This simplified type of design became increasingly popular towards the end of the 1890s, perhaps a reaction to the classical excesses of the 1880s and early 1890s, with their fluted columns, Grecian vases, toga clad maidens, naked cherubs and other "artistic" motifs (see Roger Vaughan's 1890s CDV backs).



Norman's card design is very similar to that used in the mid-1890s by former 36 Victoria Street occupant Harry J. Watson, shown above. It is so similar, in fact, that I wonder whether Leonard Norman was previously an assistant of Watson's prior to opening his own studio, either in Victoria Street in the late 1880s/early 1890s or in Burton Road in the mid-1890s.

Presumably Leonard Norman settled in Ipswich, because he died at Henham, Crofton Road in that town on 13 April 1937. His son John White Norman was also described as a photographer at the time.

Many thanks to Robert Silverwood for the use of these images.

Chesterfield Photographers: H. Brawn

This image of a cabinet card which I found on the net depicts a young man posed outdoors, dressed in uniform, perhaps of a policeman, but I think he is more likely to be a member of some volunteer yeomanry regiment. No details of the subject are provided, but it is the photographer that interests me in particular today.


The back of the card displays a cabinet-sized version of Marion & Co's "Bamboo & Fan" design which Roger Vaughan describes (CDV card designs) as having been issued in 1884 and used until 1892. This more or less equates with the fact that thick, dark purple glossy card has been used, although my estimate would perhaps tend towards the early to mid-1890s.

The only photographer named Brawn or Braun that I can find with the initial "H" is from the 1901 Census. Henry Braun, then aged 27 and born in Islington, was living at 71 Somerset Road, Tottenham with wife and child, and described himself as a photographer (own account, at home). There was, however, a Henry Brawn who was married at Chesterfield in the 4th Quarter of 1903, about whom I have been able to unearth nothing further.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has come across this photographer, or might be able to shed some light on the uniform of the subject of the cabinet card portrait.

Post Script 11 September 2011

Nigel found this image of a Victorian Blue Cloth Helmet of the Sherwood Foresters on an auction site. It looks very similar indeed to the helmet shown in the Brawn portrait.

606. Sherwood Foresters at Clumber Park, 1913
Postcard by H.P. Hansen, Ashbourne
The uniform is also not too different to the dress uniform worn by the Sherwood Foresters in this pre-Great War group portrait by Ashbourne photographer H.P. Hansen which I wrote about previously on Photo-Sleuth (Sherwood Foresters at Clumber Park).

Which sibling is it? The importance of a detailed date

Portrait A - Carte de visite, Burnley-Leigh-Peterboro-Derby, #15008
Probably the most common problem I'm asked to solve by clients is to identify which of several family members the subject of a photograph could be. Is it the father or the son, the mother or the daughter, or which of several brothers or sisters could it be? Sometimes it's as easy as estimating the approximate age of the subject and which decade he or she visited the studio.


Portrait B - Cabinet card, Derby-Burnley-Peterboro-Leigh, #15008
All too often though, and particularly in the case of sibling identification, a more accurate date and a firmer handle on the age are required. Age evaluation is a subjective process, and I usually leave open the widest possible margins for error. When the subjects are younger, I usually ask my own teenage children what they think - they seem to have a better idea than I do, probably because they are closer to the ages of the subjects. I very rarely offer an opinion when asked about potential similarity of facial characteristics between family members - that's a minefield best left to the family themselves to ponder on.


Portrait C - Carte de visite, Burnley-Leigh-Peterboro-Derby, #16706
There are many aspects of a portrait which can be used to estimate an approximate date, but I concentrate here on one which can often provide the most accurate dates of all. A good understanding of photograph types and formats, together with a knowledge of clothing styles and hair fashions, will usually get you to the right decade, perhaps even down to a five-year period or so. Detailed documentation of a photographer's career, including the addresses of his various studios and any negative numbers he may have used during that time, can in some cases be used to narrow the time frame right down to a year or two. A word of warning, though - it's usually the most time consuming of all the techniques available, and it doesn't always yield satisfactory results.


Portrait D - Cabinet card, Derby-Leigh, no negative #
Anyway, I thought I'd give readers an example of how this can work well. I recently completed a detailed study of Derby photographer Pollard Graham, culminating in the compilation of a new profile and gallery, including several dozen new images that have been sent to me by visitors to my Derbyshire Photographers web site over the last three years.


Portrait E - Cabinet card, Derby-Burnley-Peterboro-Leigh, #16790
This analysis resulted in the identification of at least 38 distinct card mount designs and photograph formats used during a career which spanned five decades. I've put forward a provisional sequence in which these card designs and photo formats were used, together with a dating guide, although the paucity of accurately dated portraits with which to anchor the sequence means that it must be considered, at best, tentative.


Portrait F - Carte de visite, Burnley-Leigh-Peterboro-Derby, #18359
The six Pollard Graham portraits that accompany this text are from my aunt's collection. As can be seen from the annotations on the reverse of the card mounts, there is some confusion in the identification of the subjects. However, it is almost certain that they are one or more of the daughters of Henry Payne (1842-1907) and Henrietta Christina Benfield (c1842-1912). I left them out of my analysis inadvertently, but can now use this to some advantage, by comparing them with the dating study to see whether (a) they fit well into the proposed sequence, (b) approximate dates can be estimated, and (c) the subjects can be identified with any greater certainty.


Portraits A & B - #15008 - Taken c. early 1906
The first pair of portraits, a carte de visite and a cabinet card with the same negative number, are from the same negative. The mounts used are Types 14 and 15 in my Pollard Graham classification, probably used between 1905 and 1908. The hat appears to be somewhere between the cartwheel amd merry widow hats described by Geoff Caulton in his excellent guide to Edwardian and later fashions, Photo Detective, confirming a date of between 1905 and 1908. I think this is Helen Payne (aka Nellie), who was born on 18 October 1883 and would have been in her early 20s at the time.


Portraits C & D - #16706 - Taken July 1906
The next pair, likewise a cdv and cabinet, are also clearly from a single negative, even though one of them is unnumbered. The mounts used are Types 15 and 16, from c.1905-1908 and c.1908 respectively. I note that this negative number is immediately adjacent to that on a portrait of Sarah Emma Payne née Parker, sister-in-law of the Payne girls (see pgraham38), suggesting that the subject may have visited the studio together with Sarah. That photograph is dated July 1906, so we have known point around which to anchor the negative number sequence - the previous sitting was possibly earlier in 1906, or late the previous year.

This young woman looks a little older than Helen, and her clothing is perhaps a little more mature, fashion-wise. The straw boater is typical of the Edwardian era, but not as wide-brimmed as they would become later in the decade. I think the caption on the reverse correctly identifies her as Lucy Mary, otherwise known as Maggie. She was born on 29 November 1876, therefore 29 years old when she visited the studio, and would marry Robert Nathan Chadwick in February the following year.


Portrait E - #16790 - Taken c. late 1906
Portrait F - #18359 - Taken c. 1907
The fourth and fifth portraits in the sequence have negative numbers suggesting they were taken slightly later in 1906 and in 1907, respectively. Both hats are closer to the typical merry widow hat, although lacking in extravagant ostrich feathers usually seen with that style, so perhaps tending towards a swaithed hat, which became popular around 1910. The subject looks like Helen again. There is a possibility that it is Lily, who was only 19 months older than Helen, but in the only other photograph that I have of Lily from that period, she looks more like Maggie than like her younger sister.


Pollard Graham's Negative Number Sequence, 1905-1922
Pollard Graham only started annotating the card mounts of his portraits with negative numbers when he opened his branch studio in Burton-upon-Trent around 1895. He appears to have used this same sequence more or less continuously from then until around 1922, after which a new sequence may have been started. The lowest and highest negative numbers in the sequence found thus far are 34 and 92985 respectively. This suggests an average rate of roughly 3400 and 3500 sittings per year, or just under 300 sittings a month.

Due to the paucity of accurately dated examples from this photographer, it is difficult to gain an accurate picture of how the "production rate" varied over time. That there was some variation, I have little doubt. The business brought in during the pre-War heyday from 1906 to 1914, when they had eight branches operating simultaneously, for example, would have been drastically reduced during the war. This hiatus appears to be reflected in a flattening out of the "curve" around 1914-1917 in the provisional chart above.


Payne family members and friends, Derby, c.1900-1903
Plotting the negative numbers of the above six portraits on this chart confirms that they were probably all taken within a short period of time, between 1905 and 1907. I can therefore make tentative identifications of the subjects with a much greater confidence, knowing how old the three Payne sisters would have been at the time. Unfortunately the only photograph that I know of which shows all three sisters in the same portrait is the out-of-focus, probably amateur, group portrait of Payne family members and friends taken a few years earlier, around 1900 to 1903, in the garden of 83 St James' Road (New Normanton, Derby).


Detail of group portrait showing, from left to right, Lily, Helen, Aunt Sarah, Lucy Mary and my grandfather Leslie (aged about 8-11 yrs)
The facial similarities between Lily and Lucy Mary are evident in here, although all three understandably look very alike.

The ability to narrow down the dating of a portrait to under a year depends on many factors, not the least of which is a good knowledge of the photographic studio's history. Of course only a tiny proportion of individual photographers have been studied in much detail. Apart from my own work on Derbyshire photographers, there are several other online works in progress, such as David Simkin's Brighton Photographers and Sussex PhotoHistory, Peter Stubbs' EdinPhoto, the photoLondon database, and several ongoing projects by Ron Cosens, including a Photo Dating Wizard.

However, lists have been prepared of photographers/premises/dates for most areas of the United Kingdom, for example, by the Royal Photographic Society Historical Group, as supplements to their quarterly publication, The PhotoHistorian. These supplements are available from the RPS - a full list and contact details are provided here. They, and many other studies of photographers worldwide, are also listed in Richard Rudisill and Peter E. Palmquist's annotated bibliography, Photographers: A Sourcebook for Historical Research.