Helen Loui Eleanora Harriet
Taken in Gr. Colton’s home
4 generations This is the last photo I’m going to post from the Garner Family Archive, a collection of 19 dry plate negatives and prints taken by Eleanora Garner Colton, the daughter of Colonel Wesley W. Garner and Harriet Murray Garner. The photos in the collection appear to have been taken between 1895 and 1900. There were three 5x7 negatives, and several more 4.25x4.25 negatives, a size I’d never seen. The photos provide a window into the lives of people in a small town (population about 600) as the 19th century was coming to a close. The picture is incomplete. They focus mostly on the women in the family. The few shots of men are largely solo shots; there is only one shot of a man and woman together in the 17 I’ve posted.
The two photos I’m not posting are interesting. One looks like it’s deteriorated, and it’s hard to tell that it’s a photo of a gentleman sitting in a chair on the porch. The other is a troubling reflection of racial attitudes at the time as a number of family members appear in costume for a minstrel show. I struggled with whether to post that one, but decided not to because the image is pretty offensive. But I felt like if I didn’t at least mention it, that would be almost as offensive by leaving out an aspect of their lives, whitewashing them, if you will. You can see all of the photos I’ve posted in this series at #garnerfamilyarchive .
#dryplate #dryplatephotography #dryplateprint #film #filmphotography #filmphotographic
Tue Feb 12 2019