Pixiq

After seeing some daguerreotype portraits, the poet Elizabeth Barrett wrote in 1843 “several of these wonderful portraits…like engravings-only exquisite and delicate beyond the work of a graver-have I seen lately-longing to have such a memorial of every Being dear to me in the world. It is not merely the likeness which is precious in such cases-but the association and the sense of nearness involved in the thing…the fact of the very shadow of the person lying there fixed for ever!…I would rather have such a memorial of one I dearly loved, than the noblest artist’s work ever produced. I do not say so in respect (or disrespect) to Art, but for Love’s sake. Will you understand?-even if you will not agree?”

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[Portrait of a young man seated, left arm resting on book on table

This is the impact that photography had on the world upon it’s introduction en masse. The ability to truly capture the “real” image of an individual was such a stunning revelation that even artists were amazed (some were in fact enraged) and the general public flocked to portrait studios the world over.

People wanted portraits

This was at a time when even sitting for a portrait meant long moments of sitting still in the bright sunlight keeping your eyes from blinking. For pioneers moving West in America, the pictures were a link to the family and friends left behind. Two books went West with the pioneers-a Bible and a photo album.

As photographers it is important that we have an understanding of what exactly it is we are capturing…moments in time. Precious indeed.

Photograph [Portrait of a young man seated, left arm resting on book on table] by Beinecke Library