What are these people doing??

[Ole]

But where are the shadows?

Cloudy day?

Blue-sensitive emulsion - the contrast between sunlit and shade is much less with a blue-only sensitive emulsion than with a panchromatic emulsion?

 

[mark]

Okay. That makes sense.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

The "rolling machine" may be a calendering press (that's "calender" as opposed to "calendar"), which was used for giving a glossier surface to finished albumen prints. The top roller would spin faster than the bottom roller to polish the surface as it passed through the rollers. I think there is a picture of a calendering press in Reilly's book at albumen.stanford.edu.

 

[KD5NRH]

But where are the shadows?

Look up top; it appears they're under some sort of translucent awning. So, they're basically in a giant light tent.

 

[removed account4]

The "rolling machine" may be a calendering press (that's "calender" as opposed to "calendar"), which was used for giving a glossier surface to finished albumen prints. The top roller would spin faster than the bottom roller to polish the surface as it passed through the rollers. I think there is a picture of a calendering press in Reilly's book at albumen.stanford.edu.

too cool!
david, you are an albuminist, do you have a device like this?

Look up top; it appears they're under some sort of translucent awning. So, they're basically in a giant light tent.

it is probably a building with a clearstory monitor / skylight windows (like a factory ).
if this was taken in the summer, these folks are boiling hot seeing how they are dressed ...

john

 

[MurrayMinchin]

I think it's a promotional shot for the photography studio. Here's how many people work for me and this is what they do sort of thing. Good stuff, especially if your promo shot is 'busier' than the competitions!

Murray

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

too cool!
david, you are an albuminist, do you have a device like this?

No, but I'm thinking about it. I haven't seen one for small scale use. If I can re-gear my 8x10" Polaroid processor, that may be a use for it.

 

[Dave Wooten]

I think that is an alternative photography workshop, they are all the rage now. You must be in period dress.

 

[Marco B]

Summary

Ok, I thought it might be nice to sum up all the ideas so far in an image. See the attachment and the included text therein.

 

[Mike Crawford]

I think that is an alternative photography workshop, they are all the rage now. You must be in period dress.

If that's the case, I want to go on that workshop! Where do I book?

 

[Marco B]

If that's the case, I want to go on that workshop! Where do I book?

The only way to join it, is to book with Doctor Who:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/

Maybe he has some space left in his telephone boot on his next trip

 

[mark]

That was cruel Marco. I am partially red green color blind and I can't see most of it.

The red and green vibrate making my eyes feel weird.

 

[Marco B]

That was cruel Marco. I am partially red green color blind and I can't see most of it.

The red and green vibrate making my eyes feel weird.

Now if I invested all my money and time in d******l PS skills, instead of enjoying the analog way, I might have been able to make something a bit more acceptable...

Life is hard I'm afraid

 

[mark]

 

[Diapositivo]

My guess is that at the time models had to be absolutely standing still for some seconds. So this picture required all of them to be immobile. The scene is constructed so as to depict a moment in the laboratory. So the man with the hammer is actually taking the hammer suspended in the air, simulating the imminent action.

The girl behind him, to the right, seems like holding an embossing stamp, but she is acting as in the moment she has just struck the embossment.

This is perfectly in line with all the painting depicting real working activities, people taken during one moment of their work day. It reminds me certain watercolours by Ettore Roesler-Franz, quite famous in Rome (an example below).

http://en.museodiromaintrastevere.it/museo/la_collezione/la_roma_pittoresca_di_ettore_roesler_franz

The "scene" is a spontaneous, credible one.

The photograph is certainly taken in a painter studio. It was common for painters to have studios on top of the building, in a kind of terrace which had windows all over one side, facing North. This gave inside a light which was fairly uniform during the day, and - very important in painting no less than in photography - with a relatively predictable temperature of light. The windows could be covered with small quasi-transparent tents, or even with black tents, to diffuse and regulate the light effect inside (sharper shadows, or softer lightening etc.). A painter painting still life, or portrait, faces more or less the same problem of a photographer: he has to find the right light first, and he must be able to "master" the light in his studio.

When photographers begun their activity, they basically installed themselves in the same studios of the painters. After all their main source of income was studio portraits for both. Probably many painters were put "out of business" by the photographers.

The picture is so nice in its purely documentary intention that the photographer (the shop owner, one might imagine) did not even think about "tidying up" the studio. All efforts were probably expended to make the photograph look "real", not posed.

Fabrizio

 

[Marco B]

This is perfectly in line with all the painting depicting real working activities, people taken during one moment of their work day. It reminds me certain watercolours by Ettore Roesler-Franz, quite famous in Rome (an example below).

http://en.museodiromaintrastevere.it/museo/la_collezione/la_roma_pittoresca_di_ettore_roesler_franz

Nice painting, and reminiscent of many other pictures of the same time period I have seen in museums. The heavy influence of photography on painting is obvious, as is also clearly stated in the accompanying text.

When photographers begun their activity, they basically installed themselves in the same studios of the painters. After all their main source of income was studio portraits for both. Probably many painters were put "out of business" by the photographers.

Quite right, there was undoubtedly have competition, with painters losing the battle...

The picture is so nice in its purely documentary intention that the photographer (the shop owner, one might imagine) did not even think about "tidying up" the studio. All efforts were probably expended to make the photograph look "real", not posed.

Fabrizio

Yes, this was exactly one the qualities that attracted me so much in this picture, so as to start posting it here on APUG. Not many of these old, and often posed pictures, come so close to an ideal scene and atmosphere of spontaneity.