HANDSOME MAN WITH EXCEPTIONAL MUSTACHE IN ELMIRA, NEW YORK

A well dressed handsome man poses for his portrait at the Whitley studio in Elmira, New York. He has a well groomed attractive beard and an exceptional mustache. A pocket watch chain is evident under his jacket and he appears to also be sporting a tie pin. To view other images of fantastic mustaches, click on the category “Mustaches (Only the Best). The photographer of this image is John H. Whitley. He was born in Candor, New York in 1831. He was a photographer in Oswego, New York, from 1858 through 1861. His next position was working with photographer C. C.Doty in Elmira, New York. After a short time he left his employ to work for the Erie Railroad car shop in Elmira. When the shop was destroyed by fire, he returned to photography and worked with Elmira photographer A. P. Hart. By 1864, Whitley had opened his own photography gallery in Elmira. To view more photographs by Whitley, click on the category “Photographer: Whitley”.

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Published in: on May 28, 2014 at 5:59 pm  Comments (1)  
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A GIRL AND HER DOG IN PHOENIX, NEW YORK

This cabinet card is a portrait of a young woman posing with her small dog. It appears that the dog was not the most cooperative subject, since the photographer found this image acceptable even though the mongrel was looking away from the camera. The quality of the photographers work is also lowered by his choice of backdrop (a wall and curtain); as well as his not including the entire chair in the image. The girl, who looks as if, she is in her teenage years, is rather plain looking. She is wearing a ring and a necklace. She has very long hair with curly bangs. The photographer is F. S. Richards and the studio was located in Phoenix, New York. Phoenix is a village located in Oswego County. It is 15 miles north of Syracuse. In 1916, Phoenix was nearly destroyed by a devastating fire.

Published in: on September 8, 2011 at 12:01 am  Comments (2)  
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FAMOUS CIVIL WAR PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES TWO WOMEN MAKING A FASHION STATEMENT IN SNOWY PAINESVILLE, OHIO

This cabinet card features two woman dressed in their winter cloaks and hats. They are in the studio of G. N. Barnard in Painesville, Ohio. The photograph has some special effects in the form of fake falling snow. The factor that makes this photograph most special, is the photographer’s life story. George N. Barnard (1819-1902), was a pioneer of nineteenth century photography. At age 23 he was producing daguerrotypes and four years later he opened his first studio in Oswego, New York. An 1853 grain elevator fire occurred in Oswego, and Barnard captured the fire with his camera. Some historians consider these photographs the first news photography in history. In 1854 he opened a short lived studio in Syracuse, New York. He then moved to New York City where he worked on stereoscopes for Edward Anthony’s Studio in 1859 .Soon, he was hired by Matthew Brady as a portrait photographer and Brady sent him to Washington D.C. to photograph Abraham Lincoln’s 1861 inauguration as President of the United States. He later became part of “Brady’s Photographic Corps” to photograph the Civil War. Barnard is best known  for his work in the civil war (1861-1865). He was the official army photographer for the Military Division of the Mississippi, commanded by Union General William T Sherman. Barnard’s book “Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign” is a photographic record of Sherman’s destructive Atlanta Campaign and subsequent March to the Sea. After the war, Barnard opened a studio in Chicago in 1869. The studio was destroyed in the “Great Fire” of 1871. He proceeded to take photographs of the rebuilding of Chicago over the next few years; providing a terrific record of that process. In 1884, Barnard opened his Painesville, Ohio studio; which brings us back to the cabinet card image of the two ladies in the snow.

Published in: on January 3, 2011 at 12:01 am  Comments (1)  
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