Two photos by Alexander in Halifax
By: usermattw
Tags: antiques, CDV, Halifax, photography, vintage photography
Click here to view it larger.
These two little cartes de visite images are both by the same photographer, so I felt like doing another compare-and-contrast post. Once again, if they weren’t labeled, I wouldn’t have sensed that they were by the same photographer. Even the flooring is different. But what I think is especially different is the vibe. The family on the left (I assume it’s a family) may be posing elegantly in their Sunday finest, but they all look rather alarmed, like they are ready to bolt at any moment. In contrast, the couple on the right (I assume it’s a couple) seems so relaxed and content, in a pose of such unusual domesticity, that it all feels rather startlingly intimate for a picture of the day. The photographer, by the way, is J. Alexander of Horton St. in Halifax. As a North American, I tend to think of Nova Scotia when I hear Halifax, but I believe this is in England. It was apparently a successful enough studio that later examples of this photographer’s work I found online show a second location (High Trees House in Lower Wyke) with the original address expanded to 8 Horton St. Below are the backs of my two photos [click to enlarge]. Interestingly, only one has the photographer’s information printed on the back. Both have handwritten numbers, presumably indicating the negative number for the purposes of reproduction. Although neither image is dated, the fact that the one on the left (the family portrait) has a lower number and no graphic suggests to me that it is the older of the two.
Pics of Then 
The style of the mother’s bonnet in the family photo does seem early, possibly 1850s, although cartes from that decade are rather rare. I agree as well about the intimacy of the couple on the right. Not only is there a lot of physical contact between them, but they’re both smiling and relaxed. The decision to pose her on the floor certainly creates an atmosphere of domesticity.
Not on the floor exactly, but on a low stool, perhaps of a type used by mothers when attending to young children.
Yes, agreed, not on the floor, but on some sort of stool. In any case, she’s basically sitting at his feet, rather than standing at attention near him, but in a way that makes her look cherished, rather than submissive.
Both of these really need to be seen at the large size to be appreciated–I just love the deer-in-headlights effect of the first one. In the second photo, I’m wondering if it could be a father and daughter? Although she doesn’t look like him, but she just seems so young to me, and the pose kind of suggests it. It wasn’t uncommon for husbands to be much older than wives, though. Hm.
Funny, he doesn’t read vastly older to me, so it didn’t occur to me that they were anything other than a couple, beyond the fact that it’s always good to challenge assumptions about images that aren’t otherwise labeled. And yes, that’s why I always try to give the option for viewing enlarged versions of these images.