Fine art photographer Keith Dotson examines a nice antique gelatin silver photograph from 1913
I acquired this great old gelatin silver print on a recent trip to New England. The fact that I found it there doesn’t necessarily mean that it was made in New England. The location is unknown, but there is a bit of detail on the back of the card.
On the back is handwritten this wonderful inscription:
“Sept. 1, ’13
On a Sunday Morning,
(taken by Harry)
Walter Bryant — Pa — Mr. Bowie
They had been looking over Pa’s garden and talking over gardening — now they would probably go to do the same at the Bryants and Bowies.”
Those words were written on the back more than 100 years ago.
This photograph from September 1, 1913, shows three country gents taking a pipe-smoking break on a late summer morning.
It’s a gelatin silver print mounted on a gray mat board — nicely photographed in my opinion. The focus, contrast, and exposure are quite good. Clearly, Harry was a bit of a shutterbug. He may have printed this in his own darkroom.
The inscription identifies the three subjects, left to right, as Walter Bryant, Pa, and Mr. Bowie. And it identifies the photographer as Harry. Those names and the date are all the information we have about this photograph. There’s nothing about location or who these people might have been, other than neighbors and friends with a passion for gardening.
We can see some evidence of silver mirroring — it’s a form of deterioration where the silver in the emulsion has migrated to the surface, causing a shiny appearance.
Whatever paste Harry used to glue the print to the mat board doesn’t seem to have caused any stains or degradation.
1913: A Time of Drastic Change
I can almost smell the aromatic pipe tobacco smoke. I can almost hear the mockingbirds and crows in the distance — a quiet Sunday morning . . . but not a quiet era.
1913 was the year that the US established an income tax. Woodrow Wilson was sworn in as the 28th president.
Stainless steel was invented in Sheffield England. There were a lot of firsts in the field of aviation. The first moving assembly line opened in Detroit, helping speed up the production of the Ford Model T. The era of mass production was launched.
In October, the Lincoln Highway was formally dedicated. It was the first transcontinental highway from New York to San Francisco — and the first major road built specifically for the automobile.
The Prada luxury brand was launched in Milan, Italy.
Some notable people born in 1913 were future American presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, blues legend Muddy Waters, English actor Peter Cushing, groundbreaking African-American athlete Jesse Owens, and the great photographers Helen Levitt and Robert Capa.
While we are witnessing a quiet sunny morning in the photograph, a lot of storm clouds were brewing — metaphorically speaking. From Mexico to the Balkans to China to French Indochina, revolution was in the air.
The start of World War I was less than a year away.