Young man in Port Henry, New York
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What it is:
Carte de visite (CDV) measuring 4.25 x 2.5 inches.
What I know about it:
Photographer was the studio of W. A. Bigalow in Port Henry, New York, operated by J. C. Sunderlin.
Comments:
I’ve said before that faces in vintage photos sometimes seem oddly contemporary to me. I’m not sure what makes them so. But this is one of them. As for the photographer, I’m not finding much information about W. A. Bigalow beyond the fact of his existence. J. C. Sunderlin, however, left more of a footprint, at least on the internet. John Corbin Sunderlin (1835-1911) had a varied life (itinerant photographer, Civil War soldier, ordained minister, etc.) He operated a photo studio out of a traveling wagon in New York, though by the 1880s, he had settled in New Jersey and ran a photo studio there. So how did he get involved in the Bigalow studio? The fact that he’s listed as an “operator” suggests to me that he may have taken over temporarily while Mr. Bigalow was indisposed for some reason. since if he’d bought the studio outright, he likely would have changed the name. But I don’t really know.
Pics of Then 
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