My camera is three and a half pounds of image-capturing magic. Mary Jane Minor's mouth would round in wonder at its 1295 frames. My great-great-grandma and I are alike in this regard--we collect faces, without identifying the occasion or relation or special qualities that make those eyes so admired, so treasured. Nonetheless, the portraits, now and … Continue reading Not Just Another Face: The Minor Family Album
Minor Family Album
The Indelible Effect of a Vintage Imprint
The Minor Family Album closes with nine children's portraits, all of them, but one, local Green County kids photographed by Carmichaels (Pennsylvania) portrait expert, Thomas W. Rogers. The exception is found in page twenty-three's head shot of a young girl, taken by Iowan Silas T. Wiggins of Cedar Rapids, in the early eighteen nineties. To … Continue reading The Indelible Effect of a Vintage Imprint
Standing There: The Equipment Used to Capture Ancestors’ Smiles
In my last post I shared the final images found within the covers of the Minor Family Album. All of the photographs are portraits of children, taken by professional photographers between the years of 1888 and 1894. I am not an advanced student of photography's history, and therefore, cannot pull all of the evidence present … Continue reading Standing There: The Equipment Used to Capture Ancestors’ Smiles
The Final Pages
The final pages of the Minor Family Album hold photographs of children, none are identified, one looks familiar. Together they present a plate of youthful Victorian fashion from the closing decades of the 19th century. Separately they tell stories, even as the personalities remain cloaked in anonymity. I hope you will return to this space … Continue reading The Final Pages
Trio Incognito: The Minor Family Album
Sometime between 1883-1888, F. P. Morgan ushered these three people into his Uniontown (Pennsylvania) studio on Morgantown Street, and shot this cabinet card photo. Their identity is concealed by the passage of time; their relationship to the Minor family of Green County lost in a historical fog. Their relationship to each other, however, is clearly … Continue reading Trio Incognito: The Minor Family Album
Shoots, Roots, and Leaves 