Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Baby Grotefent (either Alica Mary born 1872, or, William Henry born 1874) held by mother Jane Grotefent (behind curtain)

Baby Grotefent (either Alica Mary born 1872, or, William Henry born 1874) held by mother Jane Grotefent (behind curtain)

1872
Glass photonegative

A&A studio photographers managed to steady their smaller clients by placing them in the comfort of their mother’s lap. The presence of the mother was concealed beneath dark cloth and later the image was cropped to mask her being there. However, seeing the whole negative gives the game away. Alice grew up to become a public schoolteacher at Hill End in 1890.

From the Sydney Morning Herald, 7 September 1878

...it is in the humbler form of a portrait, where one of [photography’s] greatest influences is felt. Here it makes no distinction as to whether it shall adorn castle or cottage, for in all the varied grades of fortune is it to be found. Its never-ceasing voice cries, 'In memoriam, in memoriam.' This single application of photography ought to be sufficient to secure our lasting gratitude. A portrait!... Scenes of home and childhood may be things that were, but, thanks to photography, we may be the possessors of the shadow, though the substance be beyond our reach. [The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 September 1878, p 8]