Tintype Tuesday: The Cameo

I adore this tintype. I mean, have you ever seen two people who looked *less* happy to be in a picture together? Chances are, they were related, and cared for each other. But for some reason, in the face of the formality and foreignness of having their image taken, they felt the need to pose like strangers. I wonder if the photographer told them to face in different directions, or if that was their idea. They both kept their coats on. No touching. They look more like two disconnected people waiting at a bus stop than family members. 

At some point the photographer grasped the wet image and left an imprint in the collodion on the lower left corner. You see this a lot with tintypes, since it's difficult to avoid touching them during the many steps of preparing and developing the plate. Maybe one day I will find him on an old Bertillon card somewhere, if he had a criminal streak.

So many things about this image stir my imagination, but probably my favorite detail is the third party, the lady carpetbagger who crashed the shot. She probably had no idea that her fluffy skirt and hand, holding her réticule, were making a cameo in someone else's portrait. Yet here she stands, unwittingly and permanently encroaching on an awkward family moment.