Family with a dog in Montrose
Click here to see it larger.
What it is:
Cabinet card measuring 6.5 x 4.25 inches.
What I know about it:
Here is the photographer’s information on the back. Between the archaic font and the slightly faded/blurry quality, it’s a little hard to read, but it appears to say Photographed by / Jos. L. Lamont / Lochside, Montrose. If anybody has a different suggestion, I’m glad to hear it.
Comments:
Here is another photo from the box I bought a couple weeks ago, and another picture from Montrose. I don’t know what connection, if any, this photo has with the one from Montrose I posted earlier here, or whether there is any connection with the ones in the box that aren’t from Scotland. But either way, I like this picture. It appears to be a studio portrait, but one that I’m guessing was taken outside, or under a very bright skylight. I enjoy all the details, such as the mysterious playing being held by the girl on the left, and the fact that the girl on the right (with a doll) is the only person I can see to be wearing a ring. I’m intrigued by the variety of expressions. And while they always say it’s hard to get animals to stay still for these old portraits, the woman here seems to be making sure that dog isn’t going anywhere.
Pics of Then 
Such solemn faces! The bench and plants suggest a studio setting to me. The off-center framing and cropping of the shot seem a little odd, but that may have been done to get as close as possible to the group. Too bad the photographer didn’t cheer them up! If the dog weren’t in the picture, I’d suspect they had just come from a long church service and everyone was dying to have lunch.
I agree, it seems almost like they commemorating a special occasion, which makes the inclusion of the dog such an interesting choice.
Because the exposure times can be so very long, often people didn’t smile, so the dour looks don’t surprise me. Is the little girl holding flowers?
Yes, non-smiling people are common in vintage photos, but these people seem downright unhappy. Or some of them do. Hmm, could be flowers. It looked almost like a little yarn doll to me, but it’s hard to tell.