Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Back Page - The Photo Mask


group of four in forest

In many of the old RPPC and Cabinet Cards the portrait is set within a photo mask. This is a cut out mask that is placed between the negative and the photopaper before it is exposed so that the resulting print appears to be framed inside a heart or a leaf or just a circle.

Here are a few.

New Additions

Cabinet Card woman
Cabinet Card Man

Family Group with bows
On this one the photographer moved the mask slightly during exposure in the dark room to produce the fuzzy line of the oval.

Girls and guys
Five Children


CDV portrait
Large Group

The oval, vertical or horizontal, is probably the most common photo-mask.

Three in the studio

Joe
Two children in a wagon
Tailgate Drinking Party

Six children and a dog.
Two women

Trio in cut out
20110910 couple in studio RPPC
Two girls

Man

Cabinet Card portrait of a man

Portrait

Now, the one at the left was not done the same way.

First the print paper was exposed with just a leaf pressed in the middle. Then the leaf was replaced with the portrait negative and exposed to light again. The result is a black border around the portrait.


baby in cutout
two children in cutout
child on porch
Woman, Hat, Fan
This one was done like the "leaf" portrait just above.

Girl
Brokeback

RPPC Woman and Child
Man and pair of horses

The most popular photographs most popular, Family Group,
An album of the most requested photographs in the Lost Gallery.

Area 51 and a Half Area 51 and a Half
You are probably not authorized to see these.

Don't take my picture! Oh! You DID didn't you! completely unaware of the photographer This is a collection of photographs that disappear on the way home from the photo processing shop.


BACK TO
THE MAIN INDEX PAGE
Or try out the NEW
BACK PAGE INDEX

And don't miss
Cabinet Card Gallery
Penny Tales
Square America
Tattered and Lost Vernacular Photography
The best FOUND PHOTOGRAPH sites on the web.
And for postcards try
THE DAILY POSTCARD.

All images are the property of Lost Gallery and the author. Permission must be granted for their use. All rights reserved.

THE KIDS Lesson one.
It is always a mystery how a photograph of any of these precious children could end up lost or abandoned.
Here are a few.
You will probably say "Ooh..." at least once.

Dee and the Business School Dee and the Business School
The beautiful Dee. A curious story, What do you see?

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
Neiffel and Helvetica Typehigh
"What are they doing?"

at

6 comments:

  1. Tattered and LostFebruary 13, 2011 at 11:31 AM

    Okay, I'm not gettin' the duck foot at all. Love these, but the duck foot is weird.

    ReplyDelete
  2. anyjazzFebruary 13, 2011 at 4:23 PM

    Gosh, I don't get that one either. I theorized it might be a family crest or a Christmas bell.

    I think in reality, the photographer just folded a sheet of paper, cut out what he thought was a random design and then printed the picture through the hole. Then he had to do some fancy talking to get the family to buy it. It still looks like a duck footprint.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tattered and LostFebruary 14, 2011 at 11:56 PM

    Oh wouldn't that have been fun to watch. A duck print. The husband had asked for a nice duck print to hang on his wall and the wife came home with this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. anyjazzFebruary 15, 2011 at 11:57 AM

    That's funny! These old prints always have a story.

    ReplyDelete
  5. NataliaNovember 21, 2011 at 8:57 PM

    I saw it as a bell silhouette!

    ReplyDelete
  6. anyjazzNovember 22, 2011 at 8:42 AM

    Thanks! You know, you could be right! I didn't think of that. Maybe the customer's name was Bell!

    Thanks for reminding me about this page, I have some new discoveries to add. I'll do that today.

    ReplyDelete