PORTRAIT OF A SPUNKY BRIDE AND HER GROOM IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

 

Wedding photos are not an unusual find in the hunt for vintage photographs. This particular photograph is a bit special. It caught my eye because of the terrific expressions on the faces of the bride and groom, particularly the bride. The bride’s expression is priceless. I interpret her expression in two ways. First, she seems to be quite spunky. She has “personality galore”. Second, she shows a look of satisfaction, as if she is thinking “I finally snared the man I wanted to marry”. The groom also has a flair for the dramatic. He appears scared and uncomfortable. One of his legs is lifted off the floor in an awkward position (flamingo style). Is he using his knee as a platform for the bouquet of flowers that his bride is holding? I am truly uncertain as to the reason he is posed in this manner. Despite the groom’s weird “yoga pose”, I think the photographer did a great job composing this wedding portrait. I admire his ability to capture the vivid facial expressions of this young couple. The photograph was produced by the Pulaski Photo Art Company of Chicago, Illinois. The President/Manager of Pulaski was Max Prusinski (1883-?) and the Secretary of the company was John Prusinski. Interestingly, this studio produced another wedding portrait which can be found in “The Cabinet Card Gallery”. The image can be seen below. At the time I posted this photograph, I noted what an excellent job the photographer did in capturing the bride’s personality. In my description of the image I wrote “She is exhibiting a playful smile and appears to be a vivacious young woman”. The bride in the image below also appears to be quite spunky. It is likely (based on a small sample of two photos) that the photographer (s) from the Pulaski studio strived to spice up wedding portraits by capturing the personalities of the wedding couple.

 

Published in: on May 20, 2017 at 12:00 pm  Comments (2)  
Tags: , , ,

PORTRAIT OF A SPUNKY BRIDE AND HER GROOM IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

pulaski

This cabinet card features a bride and groom posing for their portrait at the Pulaski Photo Art Company in Chicago, Illinois. This photograph is a bit unusual relative to other wedding portraits of it’s era. The uncommon but refreshing variable in this image is that the bride is showing her personality. She is exhibiting a playful smile and appears to be a vivacious young woman. Her groom, seems to lack that same energy, and presents a more reserved personality. The bride and groom are well dressed and three bouquets of flowers as well as a the groom’s corsage mark the festive occasion. A book entitled “Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations” (1909) reveals that the Pulaski Photo Art Company replaced the Koscinszko Photo Art Company in Chicago. The President/Manager of Pulaski was Max Prusinski (1883-?) and the Secretary of the company was John Prusinski. Max Prusinski was born in Poland. An advertisement in “The Neighbor” (1919) discloses that the studio continued to operate at 957 Milwaukee Avenue. The 1930 US census reports that Max Prusinski was still employed as a photographer.