Friday, August 21, 2009

Farewell to a Brother




This turn-of-the-century photo features two sisters posing with the casket of their deceased brother. The sisters' expressions look sincerely pained, not as stoic as many from the period. I find that the faces of people in post-mortem photos are usually much more blank than these. I see genuine pain here. I would attribute the usual blank face to the formality of the photography process in an age before snapshots, and the fact that infant mortality was much higher and death was so much more par-for-the-course. Perhaps these young souls were more affected, because they hadn't seen it over and over again like some of their elders. A Bit of History: These sisters were named Sturgill from Ashe, North Carolina. To the right is Gracie Sturgill and to the left is Ola (Oklahoma) Sturgill. The deceased brother's name was Mathes. These names were written on the backside of the frame, and their state of residence was found by typing in their names on an ancestry website. It's amazing, the information you can find on the basis of so little information. This photo is done in a charcoal style that was only popular for a brief period during the turn-of-the-century. It makes the photo look more like art than photography. I was once told what this process is called, but I've since forgot. If anyone knows, please post it in a comment. The size is 16 x 20 including the ornate frame. I find the size of the piece to be quite unusual-- it's strange to imagine this large piece hanging in someone's house, a constant reminder of what's been lost. It looks as if it was meant to hang over a mantel, right in the center of the family's living space.

6 comments:

  1. It could be a re-photographed oil print or possibly a Bromoil print. Oil prints needed a negative the size of a print, and it would have been highly unlikely for the photographer to use a 16x20 camera, so it could be a copy print. The Bromoil process can be done with an enlarged print from a smaller negative. Both processes can produce a mezzotint-like grainy or sooty texture.

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  2. Thank you so much for the information. I will use this information to look into it further.
    -Astrid

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  3. I think this may be what is called a "Crayon Print" (AKA a light photographic print later hand embellished or tinted). The size of this photograph fits with the period this type of photograph was made (Circa 1885 to 1915) and the larger size of 16x20.

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  4. Whoa. Yes indeed, Crayon Print. The photographic image was exposed very briefly on paper leaving an impression for the artist to follow. In fact, many "masterpiece" portraits HANGING IN MUSEUMS were made by this technique. Many museums and scholars are afraid to look. Most crayon prints are NOWHERE as good as this one. Jim
    Dull Tool Dim Bulb
    http://dulltooldimbulb.blogspot.com/

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  5. Thanks for confirming that, Jim. That's awesome to know, because Truman and I have been trying to figure out what the heck this process is for a few weeks now.

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  6. Hi. Is there any way you could contact me about this? I have a photograph of this scene, and had some questions about the children's names. My email is info at thanatos dot net -- Thanks!

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