Through the Cheval Glass: Reproduction in the Photographs of Clementina Hawarden

[Mousetoescamper]

A fascinating essay and photos. Follow the link to the article at The Public Domain Review.

Soon after Clementina Hawarden began taking photographs in the mid-19th century, her eye caught on doubles, reflections, her daughters glimpsed in the mirror. Stassa Edwards examines the role that reproduction — photographic, biological — plays in this oeuvre, and searches for the only person not captured clearly: Hawarden herself ...

https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/through-the-cheval-glass/?utm_source=newsletter



Photograph by Clementina Hawarden of her daughter, also named Clementina, taken in her home studio at 5 Princes Gardens in South Kensington, London, ca. 1862–63. The Victoria & Albert Museum’s description of this photograph conjectures that “possibly there is a slight suggestion of a hand in the act of removing and/or replacing the lens cap to begin and end the exposure."

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Wow, my dear Mousetoescamper!

What a fascinating and beautiful photo! I see a faint smudge on the left side; I wonder if that's her hand?

Thanks for this look into a mysterious place.

[Mousetoescamper]

2. The complete essay and many more photos are at the link.