Man in Birkenhead, England
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I realized I hadn’t posted anything in a while, so here’s a little carte de visite. I like the nice clear image and the confident pose. The photographer is somebody named Kitchen in Birkenhead, England, and I like the way the stamp in the back includes specific directions to the studio. I looked it up, and sure enough the address is just down from Hamilton Square. (Click to enlarge in a new tab.)
Pics of Then 
The painted backdrop looks like window of a church or abbey. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a backdrop like that before. The sitter certainly exudes confidence. He was a man with a bright future! Makes you wonder how it worked out for him.
Nice to see a post from you again. I haven’t posted in almost a year. I feel like I don’t have as much time or energy as I used to, which may or may not actually be true. But people still visit my blog, which is nice. I do hope to start posting again.
Yes, it’s an unusual backdrop. I’m also intrigued by the piece of furniture he’s leaning on. It appears to be some sort of cabinet with fake books carved in the doors. And there’s what appears to be a book resting on top. I wonder if it’s all meant to represent a place of learning, like a university library or something like that.
And thanks! I always enjoy your posts, but I know how it is to lose the steam needed to create them. At the end of the day it’s just a hobby, so I try to give myself some leeway, and not fret about it so much.
A university setting makes sense. I don’t have any insights about the cabinet, but I think I’ve seen similar things in early studios.
Your point about photo collecting being a hobby is a good one. I also refer to it as a hobby when talking to people about it. But when you invest a lot of time in an activity, and also a lot of money, it can feel like more than a hobby. That’s probably a sign that it needs to be dialed back (haha).
I recently joined a group on Facebook called The Daguerreian Society, where collectors share their finds–mostly daguerreotypes, but not exclusively. It’s pretty interesting. The society has a Page on Facebook with the same name, but the Group is where all the sharing takes place.
The studio setting might just be pretty and stately without representing anything specific. Hard to say.
I didn’t just mean it’s a hobby in terms of how much time and money I spend on collecting photos (though that’s definitely a consideration), but on how much time and effort I spend on this blog. I basically do it to share the images so other people can enjoy them, rather than keeping them hidden away in boxes in my apartment where even I tend not to see them. Early on, I had set myself parameters of how the posts would be structured, and how frequently I would post (every day at first), and lately I’ve let go of a lot of that. It can still be fun to go down a rabbit hole and share all the information I find, but I’ve gotten to the point where if I want to just say “here’s a pretty picture.. enjoy!” I’ll let myself do that.
Thanks for the tip on the Facebook page. I don’t believe I own any daguerreotypes, just some framed ambrotypes, though it might be fun to see what others post I do belong to a couple of Facebook groups that focus on sharing vintage photos of San Francisco (where I live), and I have contributed at least one photo. Actually, I haven’t shared the ambrotypes on this blog because the scanner doesn’t create good images of them. I should see if I can just use my digital camera instead.
Cased daguerreotypes and ambrotypes are a challenge to reproduce well, although ambrotypes scan well if uncased. (I’ve never tried to scan a daguerreotype.) I own a few of each. They can be really beautiful, but the prices are often prohibitive.
I shared one daguerreotype I bought recently with a local historical society, which shared it on Facebook. You can see it there if you search for “S.W. Hull, Bellows Falls.” I haven’t found any other images by that photographer online, so I’m hoping someone else will share one.
I wouldn’t take apart the frames just to scan them,, but maybe I can figure something else out. Yes, I’ve always assumed that daguerreotypes were out of my price range. One of the things that lets me collect photos without too much guilt is keeping a reasonably strict limit on my spending. But maybe one day.
Hey, so I finally got around to joining the Daguerreian Society Facebook Group that you recommended, but I can’t find the picture you shared. Is there a specific date I can look for? Or am I looking in the wrong place?
I hope you find the FB group interesting. They also have a Page on FB, which you can join without admin approval, but the private Group is where people share things. It has almost 10,000 members, so it isn’t very private.
My daguerreotype was actually not shared there, but on the public page of the Bellows Falls Historical Society. You should be able to find the post by searching on FB for “S.W. Hull, Bellows Falls.”
Found it! 🙂
He is handsome and he knows it! 🙂
Very cool photo!
I agree! He is, and he does. 🙂