Photo Album. This one might have “archival” plastic holding the images in, or then again, it might be that cheap plastic that clings to the surface of the photograph and gradually wears away the image.
Either way, I haven’t really looked at these pics in quite some time.
Two other albums were also featured in this Obso madness, one tacky and one even more deliciously vintage.
“From a sober, leather-bound volume, the album became a decorative object: gilded, chased, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and sometimes garishly decorated with three-dimensional motifs. At once modern and conservative, the photographic album was set to function as an aide-mémoire for personal and collective storytelling.” A Short History of the Photographic Album 1860 – 1960 McCord Museum
I downloaded the 1873 edition of the Canadian Illustrated News, but alas, was unable to find the “lady readers” column the McCord Museum refers to. It’s over 400 pages, so perhaps I missed it, but there is a search feature. I looked for lady, carte-de-visite, botanical, lady readers, ideas, etc…
I also skimmed well over 100 pages and seeing as the “News” is mainly filled with advertising (plus ça change…) I don’t think I missed the column.
The moral of the story: don’t trust everything you read on the interwebs – even if published by a museum:)
I will gleefully await to be corrected and read the original column however.
Status: Does scanning images count as letting go of them?
Kill-ratio: 36: 3/ 18:1
Alt-title: Untitled Object No. 274 For Wallowing.
New to this blog? Read all about Alt-titles and Kill-ratios credits and explanations here.
I love to look at old photos in photo albums. One day, when I’m filthy rich, I’ll print out paper versions of all my digital photos.
That would be a large album!
Beautiful shots, and I really like the visual interruption of the news – that’s some dynamic lettering.
Thanks Richard! Yes, the lettering is fab isn’t it.