Vintage photo with potential significance, hoping to learn more.

[zallamalu]

I don't want to clog up your forum by posting in the wrong section so hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I have a photo that I believe has some significance and I am hoping to share it in hopes of learning more. It has been in our family for the last 110-120 years so I do not know the exact age only that it is greater than that. It is an enlargement of approx. 40 x 25" and I understand that it is the very first of its kind from Kodak. The story..." it was gifted from the Eastman family to another prominent family in Rochester, NY. by the name of the Kirklands (possibly Kirkwood). My wife's great-grandfather was a staff member of this home and very close with the family. He often brought his son (my wires grandfather) around to the property and he was enamored with the photo and the family eventually gifted it to him. He later gifted it to my wife's father who passed over a decade ago and it has been in our home since. her father would be 84 now so again based on these dates so we know the photo is at least over the 110-120 year mark but that is all the info we currently have. I have always been afraid to dismantle the frame and see if there is additional info to be found as I would not want to damage it in any way. I am hopeful that by sharing we can learn more, thank you for any feedback or comments.

 

[fgorga]

You might try contacting folks at Eastman Museum in Rochester (https://www.eastman.org/) to see what they have to say. They are a global center for photographic history.

 

[xkaes]

Ditto. I'm sure the Museum has several photo preservationists and historians.

 

[ic-racer]

It has been in our family for the last 110-120 years so I do not know the exact age only that it is greater than that. It is an enlargement of approx. 40 x 25"

If it is a photographic print, enlargers using daylight had been available since about 1900.

 

[koraks]

I don't want to clog up your forum by posting in the wrong section so hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

I hope it fits well and gets proper attention in its new place

Given the motif and general aesthetics of the image, I'd sooner associate this with Hollywood press kit photography from the 1930s ~1950s than with something prior to 1930. But I'm not an expert in this field, so I'd gladly stand corrected. However, I'd be inclined to verify the provenance and see if there's any chance of something getting mixed up somewhere.

 

[ic-racer]

I hope it fits well and gets proper attention in its new place

Given the motif and general aesthetics of the image, I'd sooner associate this with Hollywood press kit photography from the 1930s ~1950s than with something prior to 1930. But I'm not an expert in this field, so I'd gladly stand corrected. However, I'd be inclined to verify the provenance and see if there's any chance of something getting mixed up somewhere.

Yes, if he is holding the pan in the air, then he has a pretty steady hand for a 1900ca photograph!