Friday, October 9, 2015

Portraits of a Boy



I am calling these postcards "Portraits of a Boy" for lack of a better description. There is no information on the backs of these cards, so I have no idea who or where the people are. I was reminded of these postcards by this week's Sepia Saturday 300 prompt. 

I bought the postcard above because I thought it looked kind of interesting. The photo doesn't look like either a typical studio photo or a typical home photo. It looks like the photographer tried to make something similar to a studio portrait at home and wasn't entirely successful..I also was intrigued by the surroundings and the way the boy is standing on "something" to make him tall enough to pose with his arm on the table. 

The center picture on the back wall appears to be the same boy at a slightly younger age. The wallpaper has an unusual forest-like pattern. The small rug is placed on a plaid floor covering and also looks unusual. It appears to be a hooked imitation of an animal skin rug.

I was really surprised to find the second photo below years later and in a different place. I seem to remember that there were also some other cards with variations of this boy in the same surroundings. This photo pictures the boy between an older man and a woman, presumably family members. The boy appears to have some foliage or feathers growing out of the tip of his head!

In both of these photos, the details of the boy are washed out by the strong light coming from the right, and.the image itself is tilted. Both  photos look amateurish, but I think they are more interesting than the typical "good" photo.



For More Vintage Images

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2015/10/sepia-saturday-300-10-october-2015.html


13 comments:

  1. Good post, in the first picture, the boy seems to be holding up the framed picture above his head, and in the second picture, he does seem to have palms growing out of his head...

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  2. Wendy...that was the first thing that caught my eye too. Interesting pair of photos with those unintended special effects.

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  3. Yes, Dad's shoes are something else! Perhaps he was a bit shorter than his wife & needed the extra height? Whoever the photographer was in the second photo, you'd think they would have noticed that palm plant needed to be moved - which reinforces your idea he or she was an amateur.

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  4. You've rescued a great pair of family photos. I like finding photos that have interior details like the tiger rug and wild wallpaper. They have personal quality not found in professional studio photos.

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  5. The boy's facusl expressions seem rather odd in both photographs - the photographer wasn't good at getting him to look 'normal', assuming he was, and also wasn't much good at composing shots.

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  6. I have the distinct feeling that this little lad was the centre of someone's universe. Charming.

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  7. I didn't even notice those fancy shoes until I started reading the comments. Odd how he seems to be resting his elbow on something in the second photo too. And that palm coming out of his head...

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  8. The photos look like they were taken at the same time so it's surprising for you to find them at different times and in different places. That fern, coming out of the boy's head, almost looks like it's giving a benediction on the head of the lady and the shoulder of the man. I think the "plaid" rug is a rag rug, woven on a striped warp with a weft made of old, discarded clothing torn into strips and stitched together end to end to become a kind of "yarn." They are both really interesting photographs.

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  9. You’re absolutely right - far more interesting. And now I can’t take my eyes off the man’s shoes!






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  10. Funny that you found these years apart.
    Maybe the adventure is not over
    and you'll find others to complete the set.

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  11. Isn't it fun when you find another piece of a puzzle like this? I've been amazed to find shots at different antique stores and the flea market of the same woman. The shots must have been from an estate sale and several dealers got their hands on them.

    I'm fascinated by the box the little fella is standing on. Can't figure that one out.

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  12. What a coincidence. It's good that you could reunite the photos.

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