I am posting on behalf of an archivist colleague of mine, who has a photograph that he is trying to investigate. His question is one that I have never come across. Can anyone help?
"I ran across a bit of a curiosity in the photo line and thought you might be able to shed some light or have some thoughts. In the attached photo the wife of the man seated is standing at a 90 degree angle from him. I was wondering if there was any significance or meaning behind this positioning. The shot is in the early to mid 1860s. Any thoughts much appreciated."
Replies
No significance really, only that the gentleman was probably head of the house and being seated was preferred, maybe the lady was positioned this way purely because the photographer posed her this way thinking this was quite revolutionary for this period. Sitters in those days were very pliable to the 'professional' photographers 'expert' suggestions. Also maybe two plates would have been made one conventional & the other slightly different.
The seated man is seen head on, the standing woman is in profile. Perhaps there was some compelling reason, like a stroke, for instance, that the woman was photographed this way.