Category Archives: Types of Photographs

July 29, 2015

The little boy in the clouds

By C.E. Ryan
Portrait of young boy by GILBERT. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

1890s-1900s portrait of little boy by GILBERT. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

The boy looks like he’s standing in a fog or clouds, a very beautiful Edwardian child with a high collar on and a light colored silk cravat with white fleur de lis. He’s looking off to the side, all the while appearing quite focused.

There’s some surreal quality to this cabinet card and it is aging well, as if getting patina.

Photographer: GILBERT. The back is blank. The front bottom was clipped to fit in an album. As a result the address is half missing. 228 (or 229) Fifth Ave. PTTS (or PIIS)

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3 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Boys, Cabinet Cards

July 28, 2015

Oh! What must it be to be there

By C.E. Ryan
1905 Bamforth & Co postcard. Private Collection.

1905 Bamforth & Co postcard. Private Collection.

Look out for the jealous peeping Tom in the tree! This postcard is so funny to me, yet kind of creepy at the same time!

Photographer: Robert McCrum for Bamforth N.Y.C. Life Model Series.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Humorous, Postcards

July 28, 2015

Mr. Composite of Two

By C.E. Ryan
Digital portrait by Caroline C. Ryan.

Digital portrait by Caroline C. Ryan.

A new feature of this site to go along all the pictures I collect.

The other day I found a large lot of CDVs. As I flipped through them an idea came over me. What if I made unique, composite portraits out of those people? Take their best features, tweak them and create someone completely new. It sounded like it would be a fun little project.

This gentleman is the composite of two CDVs; one of a boy and the other of an adult as seen below, along with some tweaking and photoshop painting. The idea is to make my new vintage gent look as real as possible. Scary, hm?

Sources for composite art.

Sources for composite art.

Please forgive the obnoxious watermark. I am pondering offering high resolution digital downloads of these unique portraits for personal or business use. For now I will add a new section to this website to showcase them until this comes to fruition. They may not be true gentlemen of past eras, but then…they kind of are, aren’t they? ;)

10 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in digital art

July 28, 2015

You’ll get yours, cheat!

By C.E. Ryan

Oh, the violence! You wonder if those two teens saw beer bottle fights with their own eyes to stage this one (the answer is probably yes). I love the details like the cards tucked into the trousers’ cuffs on the second one, and the sign on the first. The teen on the left is giving the camera a knowing look as if saying “he thinks I didn’t see him…” He is casually dressed with his white tie over a long-sleeved polo, and he’s wearing white laced sneakers high school basketball players wore too.

RPPC: NOKO 1907-1920s

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July 27, 2015

Eight Ohio Edwardian gents lounging in nature

By C.E. Ryan
Gentlemen in nature with a tin of Bagdad tobacco. RPPC. Private Collection.

Gentlemen in nature with a tin of Bagdad tobacco. RPPC. Private Collection.

This gorgeous group picture is my very favorite in this collection of RPPCs.  What was in the water of that small town? I want to know. :)

These gents are surrounded by nature and a tree in full blossom, with a bouquet of white flowers to the front center. Removed hats, coats and shoes lay on the ground too. This RPPC was sent from Ada, Ohio on May 21, 1911 to a lady named Florence in Elmira, New York, and talks of a double wedding.

rppc-lounging-in-nature-back

Hello Florence,

Glad to hear that you are coming to the double wedding. You’ll have to hurry though, if Foster keeps progressing as fast as at present maybe he’ll take warning and tie the knot [sic] before you get here. Harry.

Foster just couldn’t wait to get married, could he? (I think we all know what Harry meant by “progressing” ha ha). He,  Harry and the second groom-to-be are most likely on this picture. Who’s who though? Close ups:

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9 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Groups, RPPCs