Types of Photograph

Cartes de Visite

from 1858

Introduction

France - 1854

Cartes de visite were patented in France by Andre Adolphe Eugine Disderi in 1854, and became the first type of photograph to be mass-produced. 

They were small enough to allow a photographer, using a specially designed whole-plate camera to  to take eight photos on a single plate.

[Ron Cosens:  Photographica World No 104]

Cartomania

Cartes de visite were introduced into Britain in 1858. They rapidly grew in popularity, with the collecting of cartes (or "cartomania") reaching a peak in the 1860s.

Cartes de visite continued to be produced in large  until around 1900.

Photograph Albums

They were stored in leather albums, often with decorated pages and brass clasps.  These albums   had 'cut-out' holes into which cartes de visite could be slipped, usually four to a page, but sometimes one to a page.

In later years, these albums were often designed to hold both cartes de visite and a few of the larger size photos, cabinet prints.

Process

Cartes de visite were small photographs, usually albumen, mounted on trade cards.

They were produced by specially designed cameras that enabled several images to be made onto a single plate.

Some cameras produced a series of identical images from one exposure through several lenses simultaneously.  Other cameras produced a series of different images.

Result

In the 1860s, these cards had square corners, and usually the photographer's name and studio address printed simply on the back.

 In later years, the cartes often had rounded corners, and more elaborate backs, featuring elaborate designs or illustrations of medals won by the photographer. 

©   ©

Carte de Visite from the studio of 

ER Yerbury, Edinburgh

In Edinburgh 

During the 1860s, many Edinburgh photographers set up studios in  the upper rooms of the houses in Princes Street.  The street had an open outlook to the South, facing Edinburgh Castle.  

These studios were well positioned to attract the visitors to Edinburgh.

John Nicol in his regular column for the British Journal of Photography - Notes from the North- wrote in 1877:

"I'm afraid the attention of photographers has been too long and too exclusively fixed upon the once-popular and generally easily-managed cartes de visite, and now that the tide which carried the little pictures so high has begun to ebb, photographers are not prepared with anything sufficiently attractive to take their place.

I have written before, and would fein write again in favour of enamels.  They are the most beautiful, as they are certainly the most durable of all photographic productions."

Portobello

Photographers had better look to their laurels, as a competitor has entered the field of which they have hitherto little dreamt.  On the sands of out popular seaside resort, Portobello there is at this moment a tent of the genus photographic, but not devoted to the practice of photography.

he cases which adorn the front are filled with specimens, and exceedingly good specimens, of the once-popular silhouette ... -  threepence each with a penny additional for bronzing the hair &c.

We have been for months offered our carte portrait for one shilling, but in Portobello we can have three, retouching included, for the same amount.  Again, I say photographers had better look to their laurels.

Dating Photos

All the following can be helpful in dating cartes de visite:

-  Handwritten date on the back of the card.

-  Photographer's printed address on the back of the card, and the known dates of his studios.

-  Exhibition Medals on the card.

-  Fashions.  Several useful books have been written on dating of photos from the clothing.

Other general guidance.

-  Early cards were thin, gradually becoming thicker from around 1860 to 1900.

-  Early cards had square corners.  Later cards had round corners.

-  Early cards often had the photographer's name and address in very small print.

-  Later cards often had more details of the photographer, including medals won and / or artwork.

-  The following helpful advice was provided by Ron Cosens:

"The oval vignette presentation was used from the early 1870s to after 1900 but seems most prevalent between 1877 and 1885.

By that time portraits had move from full length to (in many cases) 3/4 length.  Also by then the image had become 'larger on the page'."

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